Castle Peak Avalanche Leaves 9 Skiers Dead Near Tahoe

A massive avalanche hit 15 guided skiers in California’s Sierra Nevada, killing nine in a devastating backcountry tragedy.

In the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, an avalanche caused the death of at least eight backcountry skiers and left one person missing. This is one of the greatest numbers of avalanche-related fatalities in recorded history. 15 skiers were returning from a three-day guided backcountry ski trip when the collapse happened on Castle Peak, 10 miles north of Lake Tahoe, on Tuesday at around eleven in the morning.

Injured skiers were sent to the hospital (2), but 6 of the skiers were able to survive via utilizing an improvised tarp until the rescue teams arrived later that day. Rescuers faced severe complications in conducting the search and recovery efforts due to gale-force winds, deep snow, and limited visibility, which hampered efforts for rescue teams trying to locate the missing skier and recover the deceased victims who were still on the mountain as of Wednesday.

3 guides and 6 clients died in this disaster, and there were reports in the local news that some of the deceased were mothers of youth ski team members at nearby resorts, demonstrating the extreme loss of this tragedy for the victims' families.

With all the recent snowfall, the Sierra Avalanche Center had warned that it expected a high risk of avalanche activity in the area and issued avalanche warnings earlier this week. Reports from the local authorities indicate that, due to record snowpack and extremely unstable conditions, the avalanche that took place on Tuesday was larger than any previously recorded in the last several decades.

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon stated that they are no longer performing any rescue operations at this time; however, they have moved to recovering the body of the deceased person as soon as it is possible and safe for recovery crews.

This is the most deadly avalanche incident in the US in the last 30 years; the previous record for deaths was set by an avalanche event at Mt. Rainier during 1981. While each community will eventually recover, they will have a lasting reminder of how dangerous backcountry travel can be during a heavy winter storm period.