Ski guides killed in California avalanche remembered as skilled and passionate
Mitch Hall hadn’t spoken to his former coworker in years, but he said Sunday that he was devastated to learn Michael “Mike” Henry was one of nine people who died in Tuesday’s Tahoe-area avalanche.
“It sucks to hear that somebody that’s skilled with so much knowledge in the mountains can still somehow get into a deadly avalanche like that,” Hall said.
Henry, whom Hall kept up with through Instagram posts, had been part of a group of 15 on the final day of a three-day backcountry ski trip when the avalanche struck. Henry was one of three people killed who worked for Blackbird Mountain Guides.
Hall said he and Henry were hired at the same time in 2017 to work at Mountain Wave, a snowboard and bike rental shop in Breckenridge, Colorado. Henry, originally from Vermont, worked at the shop until 2019. In subsequent years, Hall frequently looked at Henry’s Instagram Stories of his mountain adventures and found them inspiring.
“He really was living his passion and did what he loved and wanted to do,” Hall said.
The skiers also killed were six women with ties to the Bay Area and the Sugar Bowl community identified as Carrie Atkin, 46, of Soda Springs; Lizabeth Clabaugh, 52, of Boise, Idaho; Danielle Keatley, 44, of Soda Springs and Larkspur; Kate Morse, 45, of Soda Springs and Tiburon; Caroline Sekar, 45, of Soda Springs and San Francisco; and Katherine Vitt, 43, of Greenbrae.
As for the three Blackbird Mountain Guides staff members killed in the avalanche, they came from different backgrounds.
Guides Andrew Alissandratos, 34, of Verdi, Nevada; Nicole “Niki” Choo, 42, of South Lake Tahoe; and Henry, 30, of Soda Springs also died. Their names were released Saturday after their bodies were recovered.
But it was clear Henry wasn’t the only one who followed a passion for the mountains and was doing what he loved.
Andrew Alissandratos
The last time Niko Alissandratos saw his nephew, Andrew Alissandratos, in June 2023, he had accidentally shown up at a memorial reception for his brother and Andrew’s father.
Niko Alissandratos said in a phone interview Sunday that he had been estranged from his brother and other family members for some years and hadn’t intended to come to the reception. It was being held at a Tampa, Florida-area restaurant where he had gone for a different social gathering.
When people learned Niko Alissandratos was there, some were upset. Andrew Alissandratos kept his cool, though. “He was polite and courteous and seemed sincere,” Niko Alissandratos said.
Niko Alissandratos said his nephew had been a smart child, with a curious mind. He enjoyed their conversations. He had long known his nephew, who was the oldest of three brothers, to be a nice person.
Andrew Alissandratos was from Tarpon Springs, Florida. In 2008, at age 16, he took part in a time-honored tradition for people of Greek descent: the Epiphany dive, in which participants attempt to retrieve a cross tossed into a body of water. His father had gotten the cross in 1977, the Tampa Bay Times noted.
“I’ve always wanted to catch it,” Andrew Alissandratos told the paper. “I love watching (the divers) all jump in at once.”
He was still building a life for himself in recent months, marrying in September 2025, according to a note in his Facebook bio, which has since been removed. His wife could not be reached for comment.
The Blackbird Mountain Guides website also listed Andrew Alissandratos’ younger brother as a guide. The person who answered a phone number connected to the brother on Wednesday morning, before the avalanche victims were identified, declined to be interviewed.
On Andrew Alissandratos’ Facebook page, Jeff Stoike wrote that he found the news of the death heartbreaking. “No words,” Stoike wrote. “I’ll miss our boat days. Save me a spot up there.”
Nicole ‘Niki’ Choo
At different points in her life, Choo pursued various careers and interests.
A native of Ottawa, Ontario, the Canadian participated in alpine skiing as an undergraduate at University of British Columbia before she graduated in 2005. Not long after that, she earned an MBA from Western University in London, Ontario. She also played hockey, seeing it as a way to excel in business, as she explained to a Canadian paper that year.
“You definitely feel a camaraderie among your teammates and you definitely meet more people than you would if you were golfing,” Choo told the paper.
At multiple points, she worked for her father’s Ottawa-based company, Ashcroft Homes. She said in a 2013 interview with The Ottawa Citizen about her family’s business that she hadn’t been sure about joining the company.
“There are a lot of interesting things to do and learn about in the world,” she said. “I think it comes down to working with people who believe in you and your abilities.”
Choo soon went back to school to earn a master’s degree in human development and psychology from Harvard University. Terry Tivnan, who directed the program Choo was in and is now retired, spoke to The Bee on Monday.
Tivnan remembered Choo fondly. He said she was a good athlete and that she delayed the start of her program by a couple of days so she could compete in a triathlon in Canada. Tivnan also recalled what a capable student Choo was and her willingness to grow.
“Many students come to places like Harvard and whatever they’re good at, they want to get even better at, which is fine,” Tivnan said. “But on the other hand, she came as many other students do with the interest. ‘Well, I’m already strong in these things. Let me get strong in these other areas.’”
After earning her master’s from Harvard in 2016, Choo made her way to the San Francisco Bay area, where she did product or business development-related work. Her LinkedIn profile noted that she had worked with Accenture Song since 2021.
Choo’s Instagram identified her as a “biker, skier, paddler” and dog owner. Her dog, Benson the Barnacle, has his own Instagram page, filled with photos and videos of his outdoor adventures with Choo. Choo’s own Instagram also features many photos and videos of her outdoor adventures, including scaling numerous California peaks, rock climbing, skiing, hiking and camping.
In a video posted to YouTube in 2021, Choo described nature as a “place to feel your most authentic self.”
Her Facebook page also included photos of her 2023 wedding in South Lake Tahoe.
“It was a magical, special day,” Choo wrote. “Thank you to everyone who is in our lives cheering for us, supporting us and encouraging us to be our best selves!”
Tivnan hadn’t kept up with Choo for several years, though he wasn’t surprised she had become a guide.
“She was very comfortable with all kinds of other people,” Tivnan said. “She was, I often use that phrase, quiet leadership. She could be the leader without having to be the center of attention.”
Michael ‘Mike’ Henry
Like at least three other Blackbird Mountain Guides staff, Henry had ties to Vermont. He had worked in Killington, Vermont, about 1½ hours south of Burlington.
Andrea Charest, the co-owner of a Burlington-based climbing business Petra Cliffs, spoke to The Bee before the people killed in the avalanche had been publicly identified. Charest compared Burlington to Bozeman in Montana, Jackson Hole in Wyoming, or Boulder in Colorado, calling it a hub for outdoor enthusiasts.
Still, there were limits to what was available in Vermont.
“It’s really hard to be a full-time guide in the east,” Charest said. “You’re usually chasing work.”
For Henry, this meant relocating to Colorado in the mid-late 2010s, where he and Hall were hired together at Mountain Wave. Hall recalled Henry as being “very passionate” about the snow. Of special interest to Henry was splitboarding, which Hall described as climbing on gripped skis when going uphill and then putting the skis together to snowboard downhill.
“He was out splitboarding almost every day,” Hall said, noting that Henry did it more than almost anyone he knew. “So he was really into the mountains.”
Hall remembered Henry as laid-back, quiet and a good worker. Henry worked as an assistant manager at Mountain Wave through October 2019, around the time he was also earning professional certifications, according to his LinkedIn profile. Later, Hall followed Henry’s Instagram posts and noted the messages he emphasized.
“Even when the snow is bad, like, not great out there, he was still having a good time and still getting out there, getting after it,” Hall said.
Henry’s Instagram listed his interests as “splitboarding, guiding, education” and listed him as a “facilitator of solid life experiences.” His Instagram showed photos and videos of Henry skiing and splitboarding.
“Embracing the dry spell before the storms roll in,” reads his most recent post from December 2024. “Turn on your brains and connect some dots. There’s always good snow somewhere.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2026 at 5:24 PM.
