TRUCKEE, Calif. — Crews have recovered the bodies of eight backcountry skiers and are searching for a ninth person still missing after an avalanche in the mountains near Lake Tahoe, making it the deadliest avalanche in the United States since 1981.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a news conference that authorities have informed families the effort has shifted from rescue to recovery.
The Sierra Avalanche Center warned Wednesday that avalanche danger remains high and advised against backcountry travel. Multiple feet of snowfall and gale-force winds in recent days left the snowpack unstable and unpredictable, and additional snow was forecast, the center said.
Six others from the guided group were rescued Tuesday. The skiers were on a three-day backcountry trip in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada when a powerful winter storm swept across the West Coast.
The eight victims were found fairly close together. Three of those who died were guides. Crews had not yet removed the bodies from the mountain because of extreme weather conditions.
The avalanche is the deadliest in the United States since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier in Washington state. An average of 25 to 30 people die in avalanches each winter in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center.
An avalanche in the same region killed a snowmobiler in January.
The area near Donner Summit is among the snowiest places in the Western Hemisphere and until a few years ago was closed to the public. It averages nearly 35 feet (10 meters) of snow annually, according to the Truckee Donner Land Trust, which owns a cluster of huts near Frog Lake where the group had been staying.
Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement that the group, which included four guides, was returning to the trailhead when the avalanche struck.
