After days of relentless effort against challenging weather, authorities announced Saturday that they have successfully recovered the bodies of all nine skiers tragically killed in a massive avalanche near Lake Tahoe earlier this week. Lieutenant Dennis Haack of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a Saturday afternoon press conference that the ninth missing person, alongside four other victims, was located and recovered on Friday. The remaining four victims were brought out by recovery teams on Saturday morning, as stated by the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Shannan Moon expressed profound sadness, stating, “While we wish we could have saved them all, we are grateful that we can bring them home.”
This devastating avalanche, which occurred on Tuesday, is now recognized as the deadliest in California’s modern history. The victims were part of a larger group of 15 individuals, including four experienced professional guides, who were concluding a challenging three-day backcountry ski expedition through the remote terrain of Castle Peak in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Remarkably, the group had embarked on their journey last Sunday, despite meteorologists predicting the year’s first major blizzard for the region and an avalanche prediction center issuing a ‘high’ danger alert for areas susceptible to avalanches.
Officials reported Saturday that recovery efforts finally commenced on Friday. This was made possible only after meticulous measures were taken to stabilize the area, significantly reducing the risk of additional avalanches, and once conditions were deemed sufficiently safe for rescue teams to enter. In a coordinated effort, all recovered bodies were carefully airlifted by helicopters to a designated staging area located near the Frog Lake huts, which had served as the group’s base camp prior to their ill-fated trip. Earlier reports from officials indicated that the ski group was engulfed by an avalanche, roughly the size of a football field, at approximately 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Six individuals – four men and two women – miraculously survived and were rescued thanks to their avalanche beacons and the SOS satellite features on their iPhones. Rescue teams faced arduous conditions, traveling for several hours in a specialized snowcat, a tracked vehicle designed for challenging terrain. They finally reached the survivors around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, as confirmed by the county sheriff’s office. The survivors then guided the rescuers to the remains of three victims, and eventually, five more bodies were discovered.