Eight missing backcountry skiers caught in an avalanche on Feb. 17 have died, according to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada County, California.
The sheriff’s office confirmed during a news conference on Feb. 18 that the bodies of eight out of nine skiers have been located but that not all bodies have been recovered because of dangerous conditions.
“We did have a conversation with the families of the folks that are still outstanding and let them know that our mission has went from a rescue to a recovery,” Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said during the news conference.
The search for the remaining bodies took an emotional toll on crews, according to Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo.
“This incident has specifically struck our organization and that team hard as one of the nine missing decedents is the spouse of one of our Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team members,” Woo said on Feb. 18.
The avalanche happened on Feb. 17 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Lake Tahoe.
Six backcountry skiers were rescued “with varying injuries” after the avalanche.
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said 15 people were in the group.
“Due to extreme weather conditions, it took several hours for rescue personnel to safely reach the skiers and transport them to safety where they were medically evaluated by Truckee Fire,” the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post on Feb. 17.
Two of the skiers were transported to the hospital.
Woo urged the public to “avoid the Sierras” during the storm because of treacherous conditions.
“Please allow us to focus all of our resources on continuing to recover these bodies for the family and bring them home,” Woo said.
Woo said resources had to be pulled from their rescue mission on Feb. 17 to help locate other “overdue skiers” who were reported missing in other parts of the mountain range.
Forest supervisor Chris Feutrier said that the Feb. 17 avalanche was the length of a football field and that the area still remains very dangerous.
“It resulted when a persistent weak layer had a large load of snow over the top of it,” Feutrier said on Feb. 18. “That persistent weak layer is still there and has reloaded with another three feet of snow, so the hazard remains high.”
The Sierra Avalanche Center warned that bad conditions would continue on Feb. 18.
“Increased uncertainty exists with ongoing reactivity of these buried weak layers under this large storm snow load,” the Sierra Avalanche Center said on Facebook on Feb. 18.
“The potential continues for large to very large avalanches occurring in the backcountry today. HIGH avalanche danger continues with travel in, near, or below avalanche terrain not recommended.”
