Rescuers searching for nine missing skiers trapped in an avalanche near Lake Tahoe have been hamstrung in their search efforts Wednesday morning as the area was slammed with nearly 2 feet of snow.
The Boreal/Castle Peak trailhead showed no signs of rescue activity, nearly a day after the devastating avalanche struck Tuesday around 11:30 a.m. — hitting a group of 15 backcountry skiers.
The video is ominously captioned: “This weak layer could lead to some unpredictable avalanches!” Blackbird Mountain Guides / FacebookSix skiers were rescued in a desperate search following the avalanche, but nine other remain missing.
Soda Springs, located near the avalanche site, got hit by nearly 2 feet of snow over the past 24 hours, weather data said.
The roads in nearby Truckee are “virtually empty,” The New York Times reported.
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Snow drifts have been as high as five feet.
While winter weather in the Lake Tahoe area had calmed by Wednesday morning, it is is still under an avalanche warning.
Heavy snow is expected to return Thursday.
Snow drifts have been as high as five feet.
As rescuers struggle through the snowy hellscape, authorities revealed shocking details about the avalanche and the survivors.
Trapped skiers built a makeshift shelter with a tarp as they waited for rescue, Nevada County Sheriff Captain Russell Greene revealed.
Those survivors have been told the remain in their bivouacs as rescuers work to save them.
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The still-ongoing search is unfolding as criticism for the tour guide company that organized the skiers’ trip mounts — especially after a video emerged that its guides knew that conditions were hazardous.
The video shared on Facebook showed a tour guide from Blackbird Mountain Guides sifting through snow with his hands — before the avalanche.
Nevada County Sheriffs OfficeThe video is ominously captioned: “This weak layer could lead to some unpredictable avalanches!”
The tour company took the skiers on tour Tuesday morning near Castle Peak when the avalanche buried 11 clients and four guides.
The group had been returning from a three-day tour, where they stayed at the remote Frog Lake huts in the mountain’s Castle Peak area.
The avalanche swept down an elevation of roughly 8,200 feet near Frog Lake, officials said.
The Sierra Avalanche Center measured it at a 2.5 on a 5-point scale of destructive size.
Such avalanches are usually about the length of a football field and capable of injuring, burying or killing a person more than 6 feet of snow.
