By Rich McKay
Feb 18 (Reuters) - At least eight skiers died in an avalanche in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, and a ninth is presumed dead, authorities said on Wednesday, making the disaster one of the deadliest single avalanches in U.S. history.
Rescuers on skis were able to reach six survivors amid an intense winter storm that has dropped several feet of fresh snow on the high Sierra in recent days. One skier remains unaccounted for.
The avalanche - the length of a football field, according to authorities - struck in the Castle Peak area of Truckee, California, about 10 miles north of Lake Tahoe, around 11:30 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, engulfing a group of backcountry skiers who were completing a three-day guided excursion.
One of the rescued skiers is still being treated in a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
The survivors had taken refuge in a makeshift shelter, constructed partly from tarpaulin sheets, and communicated with rescuers via radio beacon and text messaging.
Two rescue teams totaling about 50 members were dispatched from the Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner's Alder Creek Adventure Center and approached the avalanche zone from the south and north.
EXTREME CONDITIONS FOR RESCUE
The rescuers faced "extreme" conditions, Moon said, including blinding snow and gale-force winds. A team was able to use a snowcat vehicle to get within two miles of the survivors and then ski to the accident site.
The eight dead skiers were found with their beacons active, and their bodies will be recovered when weather permits, authorities said. One was married to a member of the search-and-rescue team.
The group of skiers had been finishing a three-day excursion with Blackbird Mountain Guides at the time of the avalanche. The tour group included four guides and 11 clients, who stayed at the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts located near Donner Summit just northwest of Truckee, at about 7,500 feet elevation (2,300 meters).
In a typical winter, the mountain receives more than 400 inches of snow, making it one of the snowiest places in the western hemisphere.
Moon noted that forecasts widely predicted the storm and attendant avalanche danger and said her office is still talking with the guide company about its decision to take people out.
The Sierra Avalanche Center extended the avalanche warning it issued on Tuesday, saying a "high" danger might continue throughout the day on Wednesday.
Blackbird issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was working with authorities to support the rescue operation.
The company was founded in 2020 and operates in California, Washington state and British Columbia as well as numerous popular skiing spots abroad, according to its website. The company provides guided ski trips, alpine climbing trips and avalanche education.
Avalanches have claimed an average of 27 lives each winter in the United States over the past decade, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which had tallied six U.S. avalanche fatalities so far this season before Tuesday's disaster.
(Reporting by Rich McKay; Additional reporting by Brad Brooks, Steve Gorman and Devika Nair; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
