Nine skiers lacking in Lake Tahoe avalanche: Six others rescued as search battles ‘extreme weather’ | EUROtoday

Nine skiers stay lacking after an avalanche within the mountainous wilderness close to Lake Tahoe, with “extreme weather conditions” impacting the search.

Six others from their group have been efficiently rescued on Tuesday night, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office introduced, with two of the skiers transported to the hospital for remedy.

“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 sheriff’s workplace introduced in a submit on Facebook.

“The search is ongoing, pending weather conditions. It should be noted it was initially believed there were 16 total persons, but that number has been updated to reflect 15 people who actually went on the trip.”

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The search group was dispatched to Frog Lake, northwest of Lake Tahoe, after a 911 name reported an avalanche that had buried people, and it included ski rescue consultants from Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center.

Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot mountain north of Donner Summit, is a well-liked backcountry snowboarding vacation spot. The summit, which might be perilous in snow, is known as for the notorious Donner Party, a gaggle of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there within the winter of 1846-1847.

California’s Office of Emergency Services can also be coordinating to supply sources.

The sheriff’s workplace mentioned it could present one other replace on rescue efforts at a information convention on Wednesday morning.

A 3-day ski journey

The skiers have been on the final day of a three-day backcountry snowboarding trek, mentioned Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center, which had contact with folks on the bottom within the space. He mentioned the skiers spent two nights at huts on a visit that required navigating “rugged mountainous terrain” for as much as 4 miles whereas carrying all their meals and provides.

Nevada County Sheriff Capt. Russell Greene mentioned authorities have been notified concerning the avalanche by the ski tour firm that led the expedition, Blackbird Mountain Guides, and by emergency beacons the skiers have been carrying. Rescuers made their method cautiously towards the scene of the avalanche due to the hazard of extra avalanches.

Blackbird Mountain Guides mentioned in an announcement on its web site that it was coordinating with authorities on the rescue operation.

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Dangerous backcountry circumstances

California is being walloped this week by a robust winter storm bringing treacherous thunderstorms, excessive winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.

“It’s particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now just because we’re at the height of the storm,” mentioned Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest lead avalanche forecaster on the Sierra Avalanche Center, based mostly in Truckee.

The heart issued an avalanche warning for the Central Sierra Nevada, together with the Greater Lake Tahoe area, beginning at 5 a.m. Tuesday with massive slides anticipated into Wednesday.

The city of Soda Springs, close to the place the avalanche befell, recorded no less than 30 inches of snow throughout a 24-hour interval, in accordance with the Soda Springs Mountain Resort.

The harmful circumstances have been brought on by quickly accumulating snow piling on fragile snowpack layers, coupled with gale-force winds.

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The storm wreaked havoc on roads from the Sierra Nevada to Sonoma County. Traffic was quickly halted in each instructions on I-80 over and round Donner Summit as a consequence of spinouts and crashes, authorities reported.

Several Tahoe ski resorts have been closed, in entire or partly, because of the climate. Resorts alongside highways have avalanche mitigation applications and weren’t anticipated to be at as excessive of a danger because the backcountry, the place journey in, close to or under avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, the middle mentioned.

Area has darkish historical past

In January, an avalanche within the area buried a snowmobiler in snow and killed him, authorities mentioned. Each winter, 25 to 30 folks die in avalanches within the U.S., in accordance with the National Avalanche Center.

Training in avalanche evaluation and rescue, in addition to in security gear, is very advisable for backcountry snowboarding, also called off-piste snowboarding, which entails venturing deep into the wilderness far outdoors the confines of a resort. Backcountry skis are wider and heavier, with options designed to deal with going up and down ungroomed terrain, not like cross-country skis, that are narrower and designed for flat, groomed trails.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.