California avalanche: 8 skiers found dead following deadliest avalanche since 1981
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "California avalanche: 8 skiers found dead following deadliest avalanche since 1981")
Screengrab from a video provided by the Nevada County Sheriff's Office. Photograph: (AFP)
California avalanche: Dead bodies of eight skiers have been found in California’s Lake Tahoe. They got caught in a deadly avalanche on Tuesday. Six skiers were earlier rescuedm while one remains missing. Officials are investigating why the trek happened despite an avalanche watch.
Eight backcountry skiers were found dead near California’s Lake Tahoe, while one remains missing. The skiers were caught in an avalanche, the nation’s deadliest in nearly half a century, authorities said Wednesday. Rescue teams are working to find the remaining skier. Authorities said that the skiers did not get time to react as a load of snow rushed towards them. "Someone saw the avalanche, yelled ‘Avalanche!’ and it overtook them rather quickly,” said Captain Russell Greene of the Nevada County sheriff’s office. The skiers were on a three-day trek in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada. A terrible winter storm has engulfed the region over the past few days. Things turned against the skiers when an avalanche hit owing to the bad weather on Tuesday morning. Six of the skiers were rescued six hours later. Three of the four guides who were part of the tour are presumed dead.
Skiers went despite avalanche watch in place
Officials said that the group of skiers comprised women and men between the ages of 30 and 55. Among those dead are members of the Sugar Bowl Academy community, a private boarding school and ski and snowboard club on Donner Summit. The school confirmed that some of its members were part of the ski group, although it did not name them. The weather forecast was bleak for the day, as the Sierra Avalanche Centre had issued an avalanche watch at 6:49 am. It forecasted large avalanches in the next 24 to 48 hours. Hours before the avalanche happened, the watch was upgraded to a warning. However, despite the warning, the skiers went ahead with the trek. Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said investigators would look into the fatal decision.
Freezing weather and avalanche warning in California
It is not known whether the tour guides knew that there was an avalanche warning in place.
Extreme weather conditions have made rescue operations difficult. Three to 6 feet of snow has fallen since Sunday in the area, with subfreezing temperatures and gale-force winds also reported. The Sierra Avalanche Centre has issued a warning of potential avalanches, indicating that the snowpack is unstable and unpredictable.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
Deadliest avalanche in US
Skiers had beacons that they used to send signals, while one tour guide also sent text messages. The skier shielded themselves with their equipment to protect themselves amid cold winds and below freezing temperatures. Some of the skiers died waiting. This is the deadliest avalanche in the US since 1981, which killed 11 climbers on Mount Rainier in Washington state.
