Eight dead, one missing in Lake Tahoe avalanche tragedy

Eight people are confirmed dead with one more skier still missing in the horrific avalanche that happened just outside of Lake Tahoe.

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon provided the grim update Wednesday, 24 hours after the avalanche was first reported.

Moon stated four travel guides and 11 guests were caught in the avalanche. Among those 15, 6 had been rescued — one man and five women from ages 30-55. Moon said eight of the remaining nine are confirmed dead and one is still missing.

The tour group initially contained 12 clients and four guides, but one client decided to back out of the trip at the last minute, Moon said. 

An avalanche on Tuesday trapped 15 skiers that were part of a three-day expedition led by Blackbird Mountain Guides. Rescuers were able to save six of the people after they set off emergency beacons.

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The six hid under tarps as they awaited rescue late on Tuesday, but are now off the mountain. Two of the skiers needed to be hospitalized.

Rescuers searching for the other nine missing skiers have been hamstrung in their search efforts Wednesday morning after the area was slammed with nearly 2 feet of snow.

There were no signs of rescue activity at Boreal/Castle Peak trailhead where the avalanche struck Tuesday around 11:30 a.m. The night before, mountain rescuers had launched a huge operation to find them on skis and snowcats, but had been struggling against horrific conditions that saw the entire region cut off.

Soda Springs, located near the avalanche site, got hit by nearly 2 feet of snow over the past 24 hours, weather data said. The roads in nearby Truckee are “virtually empty”, The New York Times reported.

Snow drifts have been as high as five feet.

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There’s evidence the tour company that brought the 15 skiers to the site knew that conditions were hazardous. A video showed a tour guide from Blackbird Mountain Guides sifting through snow with his hands.

The video is ominously captioned: “This weak layer could lead to some unpredictable avalanches!”

The tour company took the skiers on a tour Tuesday morning near Castle Peak when the avalanche buried 11 clients and four guides.

The group had been returning from a three-day tour, where they stayed at the remote Frog Lake huts in the mountain’s Castle Peak area.

The avalanche swept down an elevation of roughly 8,200 feet near Frog Lake, officials said.

The Sierra Avalanche Center measured it at a 2.5 on a 5-point scale of destructive size.

Such avalanches are usually about the length of a football field and capable of injuring, burying or killing a person more than 6 feet of snow.