SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rescue crews on skis and snowcats battled a blizzard in an effort to reach six cross-country skiers still alive but stranded Tuesday after an avalanche in rugged Northern California mountains left 10 other skiers missing as slide danger remained high.
Search and rescue crews were dispatched to Frog Lake in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe, after someone called 911 around 11:30 a.m. to report an avalanche with people buried as a powerful winter storm moved through the state.
Hours later, Ashley Quadros, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Sheriff’s Office, said six skiers had been found and were being asked to shelter in place “as best they can” until they could be reached.
The group was on the last day of a three-day backcountry ski trip, said Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center. Reynaud said his group had contact with people on the ground in the area. He said the skiers spent two nights at the lodges on a trip that required them to navigate “rugged mountain terrain” on backcountry skis for up to 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) and bring all their food and supplies.
Nevada County Sheriff’s Capt. Russell Greene said authorities were alerted to the avalanche by the ski company that took the group to Castle Peak and by the emergency beacons the skiers were carrying.
Skiers are in communication with officials through their emergency beacons, which can send messages, Greene told KCRA-TV.
“They’re doing everything they can. They’ve taken refuge in an area, they’ve put together a makeshift shelter with a tarp and they’re doing everything they can to survive and wait for rescue,” Greene told the television station.
He said rescue teams were approaching the group with caution as the danger of more avalanches remained high.
“We brought in snow cats. We have snowmobiles on standby. We have people on skis. We have several different ways that people are trying to get there,” he said. “It’s just going to be a slow, tedious process.”
Backcountry conditions are dangerous
The company that runs the trip, Blackbird Mountain Guides, said in a statement on its website that it was coordinating rescue operations with authorities. There were said to be 12 customers and four guides in the group.
California is being hit by a powerful winter storm this week, bringing treacherous storms, strong winds and heavy snow to mountain areas.
“It’s especially dangerous in the area right now, just because we’re in the height of the storm,” said Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest’s lead avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche Center in Truckee.
The center issued an avalanche warning for the central Sierra Nevada area, including the Greater Lake Tahoe region, beginning at 5 a.m. Tuesday, with large slides expected through Wednesday.
The dangerous conditions were caused by the rapid accumulation of snow piles on the fragile snow layers, coupled with strong winds.
Several ski resorts around Lake Tahoe have been closed in whole or in part due to the extreme weather. Resorts along the highways have avalanche mitigation programs and are not expected to pose as much of a risk as the backcountry, where travel in, near or under avalanche terrain has been strongly discouraged, the center said.
The area has a dark history
Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot (2,777-meter) peak in the Donner Summit area of the Sierra Nevada, is a popular backcountry skiing destination. Donner Summit, which can be dangerous in the snow, is named after the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after becoming trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.
Avalanche assessment training and rescue and safety equipment is highly recommended for cross-country skiing, also known as off-piste skiing, which attracts people who want to slide deep into the wilderness, far from the confines of a resort boundary. Cross-country skis are wider, heavier, and have other features to handle climbing and descending rough terrain, unlike cross-country skis, which are narrower and designed for flat, groomed trails.
In the nearby town of Soda Springs, at least 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow had fallen in the past 24 hours, according to Soda Springs Mountain Resort.
Forecasters said the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in northern Shasta County — including portions of Interstate 5 — and parts of the state’s Pacific Coast Range could see up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow before the storm passes Wednesday night.
The storm wreaked havoc on roads stretching from Sonoma County into the Sierra Nevada. Traffic was temporarily backed up in both directions on I-80 near the Nevada state line due to detours and accidents, the California Department of Transportation reported.
In January, an avalanche in the region buried a motorcyclist in snow and killed him, authorities said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center.
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Watson reported from San Diego.