Lake Tahoe avalanche kills 8 backcountry skiers, including group of 6 moms who bonded over their ‘love of the outdoors’
The skiers were returning from a three-day trek in California’s Sierra Nevada when the avalanche struck. Six were rescued; one remains missing and is presumed dead.
A rescue team heads to the site where the group of skiers was stranded.
(Nevada County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via Reuters)
Six of the backcountry skiers who were killed in an avalanche in California’s Sierra Nevada north of Lake Tahoe earlier this week were mothers who bonded over their “love of the outdoors,” their families said Thursday.
“They were all mothers, wives and friends,” the families of Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt said in a joint statement. “They were passionate, skilled skiers who cherished time together in the mountains.”
“We are heartbroken and are doing our best to care for one another and our families in the way we know these women would have wanted,” they added.
The skiers were part of a 15-person group returning from a three-day backcountry trek when the avalanche swept through rugged terrain near Donner Pass on Tuesday morning. Six were rescued.
Blackbird Mountain Guides, the ski-tour company that led the expedition, said that a total of 11 clients and four guides had been staying in remote huts below the 9,110-foot Castle Peak and were “in the process of returning to the trailhead” when the avalanche struck.
The bodies of eight of the skiers had been located, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said during a news conference Wednesday to announce that search efforts had moved from rescue to recovery. One of the skiers remains missing and is presumed dead, she said.
The search for survivors
Emergency crews were dispatched around 11:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday. It took rescuers using snowcats and backcountry ski equipment about six hours to reach six of the skiers, who were evacuated “with varying injuries,” according to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. Two were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Nine women and six men were on the expedition, Moon said. Four men and two women survived. The survivors included one guide and five clients, she said.
The rescued skiers used emergency beacons and their iPhone SOS functions to communicate with search crews, Nevada County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Russell Greene said. The deceased skiers were also found with beacons, he said.
Chris Feutrier, supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest, said the avalanche that buried the skiers was the size of a football field.
“Someone saw the avalanche, yelled avalanche, and it overtook them rather quickly,” Greene said.
The recovery effort
The bodies of the deceased skiers were located fairly close together but not recovered due to the dangerous conditions, Greene said. Search teams left the mountain late Tuesday. Recovery efforts would begin as soon as it was safe to do so, he said.
“This is not a resource issue — it’s a safety issue,” Moon said.
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement on Thursday saying that “due to hazardous weather conditions, avalanche victims cannot be safely extracted off the mountain today.”
“Recovery efforts are expected to carry into the weekend,” the sheriff’s office said.
Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said that one of the dead was the spouse of a member of the local Tahoe Nordic Search & Rescue team. “This has been not only challenging for our community,” he said. “It’s been a challenging rescue, but it’s also been challenging, emotionally.”
The death toll makes it one of the deadliest avalanches in U.S. history. In 1982, an avalanche at Alpine Meadows ski resort in Lake Tahoe killed seven people. One person survived.
Avalanche warnings
Heavy snow forced the closure of Interstate 80 near Truckee on Tuesday.
(Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP)
The avalanche occurred amid a winter storm that dumped up to 30 inches of snow in Northern California. Interstate 80 was shut down near Donner Summit on Tuesday indefinitely due to snow. Several Tahoe-area ski resorts were fully or partially closed due to the storm.
The Sierra Avalanche Center had issued an avalanche warning for the central Sierra Nevada area early Tuesday. It remained in effect until Friday.
“The potential continues for large to very large avalanches occurring in the backcountry today,” Steve Reynaud of the avalanche center said in an advisory on Wednesday. “HIGH avalanche danger continues with travel in, near, or below avalanche terrain not recommended.”
It’s unclear whether the expedition chose to ignore the warning. Moon said that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
A video posted to the Blackbird Mountain Guides Instagram page on Sunday ahead of the storm showed one of its staffers explaining how a weak layer of snow “could lead to unpredictable avalanches.”
“⚠️Pay close attention to @savycenter [the Sierra Avalanche Center] and use extra caution this week!” a caption for the video read.
What the company is saying
Late Wednesday, Blackbird Mountain Guides founder Zeb Blais issued a statement calling it “an enormous tragedy” and “the saddest event our team has ever experienced.”
“In addition to mourning the loss of six clients, we also mourn the loss of three highly experienced members of our guide team,” Blais said. “We are doing what we can to support the families who lost so much, and the members of our team who lost treasured friends and colleagues.”
He said all of the guides with the group were “trained or certified in backcountry skiing,” and that each guide was also certified with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.
“In addition, guides in the field are in communication with senior guides at our base, to discuss conditions and routing based upon conditions,” he said. “There is still a lot that we’re learning about what happened. It’s too soon to draw conclusions, but investigations are underway.
“Our most important focus is on those directly impacted and supporting their needs,” Blais added. “We ask that people following this tragedy refrain from speculating. We don’t have all the answers yet, and it may be some time before we do. In the meantime, please keep those impacted in your hearts.”
Two skiers die in separate incidents at Heavenly resort near Lake Tahoe
Two skiers died Friday in separate incidents at Heavenly Mountain Resort’s Boulder Lodge area Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. (Brontë Wittpenn / The Chronicle)
Two skiers died Friday in separate incidents at Heavenly Mountain Resort’s Boulder Lodge area, and authorities are still working to determine what happened, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies responded around 11:55 a.m. to what the sheriff’s office described as “two separate fatal ski incidents” at the resort.
Heavenly Ski Patrol brought both skiers to the base area, officials said. Patrollers and paramedics with the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District attempted lifesaving measures, but both people were pronounced dead at the scene.
The deaths were not connected, and investigators said there was no known relationship between the two skiers. The cause and manner of death remain under investigation. The victims’ names will be released after next of kin are notified, the sheriff’s office said, calling the case an active investigation.
The double fatality comes during a punishing stretch of winter weather in the Sierra Nevada. A series of storms has blanketed the region with heavy snow and created hazardous conditions both inbounds and in the backcountry.
Earlier this week, an avalanche in the Donner Summit and Castle Peak area near Truckee swept through a guided backcountry group, becoming one of the deadliest such disasters in modern California history. Eight skiers were confirmed dead, and one person remained missing as search efforts continued, according to authorities.
The season has also brought a string of deaths at major Tahoe resorts.
At Northstar California Resort near Truckee, Colin Kang, 21, a San Jose State University graduate, was found dead on the mountain Thursday after an overnight search. Authorities also identified Stuart McLaughlin, 53, of Hillsborough, as the skier who died following an on-mountain collision there on Feb. 15, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
