As many as 10 skiers were missing and six others were left stranded and awaiting rescuers after an avalanche near the town of Truckee, California, authorities said Tuesday.
The avalanche happened in the area of Castle Peak, a popular backcountry ski destination northwest of Lake Tahoe, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The 16-person group affected included four mountain guides and 12 other skiers.
The sheriff’s office said at least six people survived the avalanche and remained at the site, where they were still awaiting rescuers navigating treacherous conditions. The 10 others were unaccounted for, the news release said.
“This is a fluid situation, so it may change,” said Russell Greene, a captain with the sheriff’s office. “We’re in the process of contacting the family members of the individuals that were out there.”
Greene said in an interview Tuesday evening that a mountain guide service reported the avalanche at about 11:30 a.m. and that it was also reported, separately, through an emergency beacon device.
Around 46 rescuers were traveling to the site of the avalanche Tuesday night, Greene said, but they had not reached the location as of about 5 p.m. local time.
The sheriff’s office was in touch with the group of surviving skiers through an emergency satellite messaging service, which was allowing them to send text messages, Greene said.
“It’s in a tough area. It’s just going to be slow going so we don’t trigger any other avalanches, because that is definitely a possibility,” he said, adding that the risk of additional slides was significant enough that “we’re hesitant to send anybody in on a snowmobile.”
Greene said some survivors of the avalanche had taken shelter in a treed area near the site.
“They have at least a tarp with them, so they’re doing their best to create somewhat of a structure and get out of the elements as best they can, and we will begin treating and dealing with that when we get there,” Greene said.
The weather in Truckee — a town of about 17,000 people close to Lake Tahoe and to California’s eastern border with Nevada — has been treacherous, with blizzard conditions impeding search-and-rescue efforts.
The Boreal Mountain Ski Resort, which is near Castle Peak, reported about 30 inches of snow over the past 24 hours.
The National Weather Service said 3 to 4 inches of snow were falling per hour in some areas of the Sierras near the incident.
“Plan on hazardous road conditions, poor visibility due to falling and blowing snow, and even periods of white out conditions in locally heavy snow through late tonight,” forecasters wrote Tuesday afternoon. “Travel is highly discouraged in the Sierra as periods of whiteout conditions are likely.”
Interstate 80 closed Tuesday, with the California Highway Patrol reporting whiteout conditions and near-zero visibility.
“It obviously hampered our response,” Greene said.
An avalanche warning was in effect for the Tahoe region on Tuesday due to the heavy snow.
“HIGH avalanche danger exists in the backcountry. Large avalanches are expected to occur Tuesday, Tuesday night, and into at least early Wednesday morning across backcountry terrain,” the Sierra Avalanche Center wrote in a bulletin issued Tuesday, before the avalanche was reported. “Natural avalanches are likely, and human-triggered avalanches large enough to bury or injure people are very likely.”
The forecasting center said avalanches up to D3 in size were likely— meaning that slides powerful enough to bury a car or house were a concern.
Forecasters were concerned about the possibility of what’s known as a storm slab avalanche because the intense snowfall was creating a heavy layer of accumulated snowfall that was resting on a weak, sugary layer of snow that had remained on during a recent dry spell.
Backcountry skiers typically carry safety gear, including avalanche beacons, shovels and probes to help with self rescue in the event of an avalanche. Avalanche beacons, or transceivers, have two modes: one in which a signal is sent to help rescuers identify a victim’s location and another that searches for those signals.
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