TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) — After days of increasingly brutal conditions in California’s Sierra Nevada, a group of 15 backcountry skiers set out for home. But as they left remote huts at thousands of feet of elevation and trekked back toward the trailhead, they were slammed by a treacherous avalanche that left eight dead and one missing.
With avalanche warnings in effect through early Thursday, officials were still waiting for the powerful storm to clear so they could recover the bodies of the victims of Tuesday’s avalanche, the nation’s deadliest in nearly half a century. Officials have not yet released the names.
The ski group involved has deep ties to the alpine recreation community in Lake Tahoe, including the elite Sugar Bowl Academy, which issued a statement late Wednesday mourning the loss of victims with “strong connections to Sugar Bowl, Donner Summit and the backcountry community.”
It did not say how the skiers, said to range in age from 30 to 55, were connected to the school, which offers alpine and backcountry ski instruction and academics for young athletes.
“We are an incredibly close and connected community,” Sugar Bowl Academy executive director Stephen McMahon was quoted as saying in the statement. “This tragedy has affected each and every one of us.”
Four in the group were guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides, which offers mountaineering and backcountry ski trips as well as safety courses across the West and internationally. One of them was among the six survivors.
The three-day tour, which began Sunday, was for intermediate to expert skiers, according to the company’s website.
The tour company said in a statement Wednesday night that it has launched an investigation and paused field operations at least through the weekend while it prioritizes supporting the victims’ families.
The company guides who led the group were trained or certified in backcountry skiing and were also instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.
While in the field, they “are in communication with senior guides at our base, to discuss conditions and routing based upon conditions,” founder Zeb Blais said in the statement.
“We don’t have all the answers yet, and it may be some time before we do,” the company said. “In the meantime, please keep those impacted in your hearts.”
Mayor Max Perrey of Marin County’s Mill Valley, a small city about 14 miles (22 kilometers) north of San Francisco, confirmed that some in the group were women from his city. He was not able to provide additional details but told The Associated Press via email that more information would be released later.
The Sierra Avalanche Center issued an avalanche watch Sunday morning, and that was elevated to a warning by 5 a.m. Tuesday, indicating that avalanches were expected. It is not clear whether the guides would have known about the change before they began their return trek.
Authorities described a harrowing scene as the survivors scoured the snow for the missing and waited six hours for help to arrive in blizzard conditions. They found three of the bodies, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said.
The skiers all had beacons that can send signals to rescuers, and at least one guide was able to send text messages. But it was not clear whether they were wearing avalanche bags, which are inflatable devices that can keep skiers near the surface, sheriff’s Capt. Russell “Rusty” Greene said.
One of those rescued remained hospitalized Wednesday, Moon said.
Three to 6 feet (91 centimeters to 1.8 meters) of snow has fallen in the area since Sunday. The area was also hit by subfreezing temperatures and gale force winds.
The avalanche is the deadliest in the U.S. since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier in Washington state, and the second deadly avalanche near Castle Peak this year, after a snowmobiler was buried January. Each winter the slides kill 25 to 30 in the country, according to the National Avalanche Center.
The area near Donner Summit, where the ski trip took place, is one of the snowiest places in the Western Hemisphere and until just a few years ago was closed to the public. The summit is named for the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.
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Watson reported from San Diego, and Golden from Seattle. Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Trân Nguyễn in Sacramento contributed.
