A catastrophic avalanche near California’s Lake Tahoe has left 10 skiers unaccounted for and six others trapped at the scene, according to authorities responding to Tuesday’s emergency.
The deadly slide occurred around 11:30 a.m. Pacific time in the Castle Peak backcountry area of Truckee, California, roughly 10 miles north of Lake Tahoe, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office reported on Facebook. The avalanche completely buried a skiing party of 16 people.
The skiing group included four professional guides leading 12 clients when the mountain gave way. Six individuals survived the slide and remained at the disaster site waiting for emergency crews, while 10 others could not be located, officials confirmed.
Should all the missing skiers lose their lives, this tragedy would become one of America’s most fatal single avalanche events in recorded history. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center reports six avalanche deaths nationwide this season so far.
Over the last ten years, avalanches have killed an average of 27 people annually across the United States, according to avalanche tracking data.
Northern California was under a winter storm warning Tuesday, with forecasters predicting heavy snowfall across the Sierra Nevada’s higher elevations.
Early Tuesday morning, the Sierra Avalanche Center had issued warnings about “high avalanche danger” conditions in backcountry skiing areas, the sheriff’s department noted.
Emergency rescue teams from Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center rushed to the avalanche site, where dozens of first responders assembled for search operations.
Dangerous weather patterns continue threatening the Sierra backcountry terrain, with forecasters expecting more avalanche activity through Tuesday evening and Wednesday, authorities warned.
California Governor Gavin Newsom received briefings on the disaster, with state officials “coordinating an all-hands search-and-rescue effort” alongside local emergency response teams, his office announced on social media.
