Eight dead, one missing in Sierra Nevada avalanche

NEVADA CITY, Calif. (CN) — Eight people died in a Tuesday avalanche in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, with one person still missing and presumed deceased, authorities said.

A search and rescue team found six people who survived the avalanche near Castle Peak. Two of them couldn’t walk and the team — which had skied two miles from their snowcat to reach the group — brought all survivors back, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a Wednesday press conference.

Before their rescue, the survivors had found three people in their group who had died. Rescuers found another five. One remains missing, Moon said.

The sheriff said the rescue effort has since become a recovery effort.

The bodies remain on the mountain. Authorities will recover them when weather permits.

“This is a backcountry area,” the sheriff said, adding later: “Extreme weather conditions I would say is an understatement.”

Fifteen people — four guides with Blackbird Mountain Guides and 11 clients — were returning from a three-day backcountry trip when the Tuesday avalanche occurred around 11:30 a.m., Moon said.

Moon’s office responded, as did the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and Tahoe Nordic Search & Rescue.

Two rescue teams approached the area from the north and south, moving slowly because of weather conditions.

A strong storm pushed through the Sierra Tuesday, dropping over 2½ feet of snow at some spots. Forecasters had called for another 2 to 3 feet of snow on Wednesday.

The rescuers’ snowcat, a vehicle designed for travel over rough, snowy terrain, stopped some 2 miles from the survivors. Rescuers reached the survivors on skis, finding them sheltering.

Two of the six survivors had injuries and couldn’t walk. All survivors, a guide and five clients, reached the snowcat and, ultimately, the trailhead where ambulances waited, Moon said.

The survivors, two men and four women, range in ages from 30 to 55. Authorities declined to identify them.

The deceased are seven women and two men. Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said that one of the missing people is married to a member of the Tahoe Nordic rescue team.

Of the injured, one received treatment at a hospital and was released. The other injured survivor is expected to leave the hospital Wednesday.

“The guide company has been very cooperative,” Moon said.

Nevada County Sheriff’s Captain Rusty Greene said the bodies found by rescuers were close together. Rescuers left avalanche poles in the area for when they return to recover the bodies. Once recovered, the bodies will go to the Placer County morgue.

Officials had yet to determine a cause of death for the deceased.

“We did have conversations with the families and let them know the rescue has become a recovery,” Moon said.

The sheriff noted that authorities initially thought the avalanche struck 16 people. However, they later learned one person who intended to go on the trip opted against it.

Chris Feutrier, supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest, said the avalanche stemmed from a load of new snow on top of a weak layer of powder. Since the avalanche, another layer of new snow has accumulated on the weaker part, meaning danger in the area remains high.

Another storm is forecast for Thursday, with a series of warmer storms poised to pound the state beginning Sunday.

“Please avoid the Sierra during this storm and in the coming days,” Woo said.