Lake Tahoe avalanche: Who are the victims and survivors?

TRUCKEE, Calif. – Eight people were killed and one person is still missing after an avalanche on Tuesday interrupted a backcountry skiing trip near Lake Tahoe’s Donner Summit. 

Authorities say 15 people were on a three-day skiing trip with Blackbird Mountain Guides, a Truckee-based touring company. The group, which included four tour guides, was on the final day of their backcountry trip in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains when they were trapped by an avalanche.

Who are the victims in the Lake Tahoe avalanche?

The identities of the eight victims have not been formally released by Nevada County or Placer County officials. 

The mayor of Mill Valley said Thursday that some of the backcountry skiers were women from his city, though he did not share their identities or specify whether they were among the survivors or victims.

Here’s what we know about the victims as of Wednesday evening, according to authorities.

• Eight people have been confirmed dead.
• One other person, presumed dead, is still missing.
• Some of the members killed were members of the Sugar Bowl Academy community – a private boarding school and ski/snowboard club.
• Seven of the victims are women. Two other victims are men.
• Three of the nine victims were tour guides with Blackbird Mountain Guides.

Who are the survivors of the Lake Tahoe avalanche?

• Six people survived the avalanche, authorities confirmed.
• Two were injured and immobile when first responders arrived.
• They were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
• One of the injured victims was treated and released from the hospital.
• One of the six survivors was a tour guide with Blackbird Mountain Guides.
• The survivors, one man and five women, range from 30 to 55-years-old, authorities said.

What to know about the Lake Tahoe avalanche

The backstory:

The group of 15 was on a three-day backcountry ski trip to Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot mountain with rugged terrain near Lake Tahoe, north of Donner Summit. The skiers had stayed at Frog Lake huts with Blackbird Mountain Guide, authorities said, and were on the final day of their trip.

“This is a backcountry area, rugged terrain where we have a lot of recreation in the summer, hiking and in the winter,” said Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon. 

The Sierra Avalanche Center issued a backcountry avalanche warning as early as Sunday for the Lake Tahoe Basin, which included the Castle Peak area.

The avalanche, which was about the length of a football field, occurred Tuesday between 11:30 a.m. and noon, authorities said. The six survivors were found buried in the snow, by 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. that night.

“The sheriff’s office, along with Truckee Fire, immediately started coordinating a response to get into the area,” Moon said. “And we requested mutual aid from both our friends to the east, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team.”

Nevada County also requested help through California’s mutual aid system, garnering assistance from the state of Nevada and Washoe County.

“We had two different teams deploying, roughly 50 skilled folks deploying into the scene, both from the south side and from the north side, trying to come in to this, to this area, extreme weather conditions,” Moon said.

An avalanche warning remains in effect until 5 a.m. Thursday. 

“The potential continues for large to very large avalanche occurring in the backcountry today.  High avalanche danger continues with travel in, near, or below avalanche terrain not recommended,” the Sierra Avalanche Center warned.