Sierra avalanche that buried 15 struck near January slide that killed snowmobiler
Castle Peak, the area where a group of backcountry skiers were swept up in an avalanche, happened not far from where a snowmobiler died in a similar slide at the start of the year, and were close to where three other fatal slides have happened since 2012.
Search and rescue crews had successfully rescued six survivors Tuesday night in the backcountry near Truckee but continued searching for nine others still missing after the avalanche struck around 11:30 a.m., according to search and rescuers led by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office.
Tuesday’s avalanche came about six weeks after a separate, fatal slide on the backside of Castle Peak claimed the life of a 42-year-old man.
Chris Scott Thomason of Bend, Oregon, was killed Jan. 5 when an avalanche was triggered as he and four companions were snowmobiling in the area. The group had set out from the Johnson Canyon area and successfully reached Castle Peak before the avalanche occurred on their return trip, authorities said at the time.
Thomason was buried in the snow and located by his partners using avalanche beacons. They began CPR, assisted by an off-duty Truckee Fire medic who came upon the scene, but he did not survive. All other individuals known to be in the area that day were later accounted for and confirmed safe.
Tuesday’s avalanche involved a group of 15 backcountry skiers — four guides and 11 clients — who had been staying at the Frog Lake huts, about a mile and half east of the 9,109-foot-tall peak, according to the Sheriff’s Office and a statement from Truckee-based Blackbird Mountain Guides.
Castle Peak sits just north of Soda Springs on the north side of Lake Tahoe and is a popular destination for backcountry recreation, with terrain ranging from lower-angle slopes to steeper runs. Under the conditions highlighted Tuesday, avalanche forecasters warned that traveling in backcountry terrain carried significant risk, including from slides starting higher on surrounding slopes.
“Highly skilled rescue ski teams have departed from both Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center to make their way to the six known survivors, who have been directed to shelter in place as best they can in the conditions,” sheriff’s officials wrote. A SnoCat team was also launched from Alder Creek.
Authorities have not said exactly where searchers were looking for the victim but that the rescuers, which numbered at least 40 during the day Tuesday, were being cautious due to the threat of more slides.
The avalanche struck amid a powerful winter storm that has dumped multiple feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada and prompted warnings of high avalanche danger in the Lake Tahoe backcountry. A backcountry avalanche warning for the greater Lake Tahoe area was in place until at least 5 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Sierra Avalanche Center.
The Sheriff’s Office planned a news conference Wednesday morning to provide an update.
According to a database of avalanche fatalities compiled by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, if the 10 missing people are not found alive, the incident would be the deadliest avalanche in U.S. history since records were kept beginning in 1950.
Besides January’s fatal slide, three other incidents have occurred five miles of Tuesday’s avalanche, according to a Bee analysis of the records and previous reporting.
2021: Donner Ski Ranch
A 49-year-old Truckee-area snowboarder was killed Dec. 24, 2012, after he was swept away by an avalanche at Donner Ski Ranch near Interstate 80. Steven Mark Anderson was found dead under 2 to 3 feet of snow in a debris field at the base of the mountain hours after he went missing on Christmas Eve morning during a period of heavy Sierra snowfall and elevated avalanche risk.
The Sierra Avalanche Center at the time had warned of “considerable” danger on slopes steeper than 33 degrees, citing heavy new snow atop a weak snowpack. That categorization is one tier below the “high” danger for avalanches that was forecast on Tuesday.
2021: Frog Lake Cliffs
A snowmobiler died March 20, 2021, after a large section of overhanging cornice broke beneath him at Frog Lake Cliffs north of Donner Pass, triggering a wind slab avalanche that swept him roughly 900 vertical feet down steep terrain. Authorities had said at the time that the victim — later identified as North Tahoe Fire Protection District facilities coordinator Tim Schrader, 43 — had stepped off his sled near the ridge when about 40 feet of cornice collapsed.
The break sent him onto the slope below, buried him in about 15 feet of debris after an avalanche estimated at 100 feet wide was triggered. Rescue crews, including Nevada County and Tahoe Nordic search and rescue teams, used a helicopter to recover the body. Authorities at the time called the incident “a sobering reminder of the risks that exist in the mountains.”
2016: Sugar Bowl
Carson May, a 23-year-old Sugar Bowl ski instructor from Davis, disappeared Jan. 14, 2016, after separating from his brother while skiing and heading toward the resort via a backcountry route near Mount Judah. A five-day search involving about 400 rescuers was called off Jan. 19 as heavy snowfall, strong winds and considerable avalanche danger made it unsafe to thoroughly probe the steep sidecountry terrain outside resort boundaries.
May’s body was recovered more than two months later on March 1 under 5 feet of snow on the back side of Mount Judah, roughly a quarter-mile beyond the ski area. Authorities said the location and snow depth indicated he likely was killed in an avalanche.
The deadliest California avalanche appears to have occurred in 1982 at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, when seven people were killed, according to the avalanche center’s database.
