Eight Back Country Skiers Die in US Avalanche
18th February 2026
Last modified on February 22nd, 2026
Rescue teams in California’s Lake Tahoe region have found the bodies of eight skiers who went missing in an avalanche on Tuesday.
The search for a final missing skier continues, but that person is presumed dead said the Nevada County Sheriff’s office.
Fifteen skiers were reported missing on Tuesday after a ‘football-field’ size avalanche came down in the Castle Peak area around 11:30 local time.
Six of the group were been rescued.
Three guides died.
We reported on the accident and search operation earlier on PlanetSKI
The bodies of those who died have now been recovered.
The families of the deceased have been notified.
Authorities have not yet released any of their names.
“I want to offer my condolences to the family in this very trying time,” said Placer County Sheriff, Wayne Woo.
The rescue operation involved two teams and roughly 50 crew members who had to traverse “extreme weather conditions” using specialised equipment.
The survivors took shelter in make-shift tents before being rescued.
Two of the six survivors had to be carried back and could not walk because of the injuries they sustained in the avalanche.
They are being treated in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Among the survivors, one was a guide and five were clients of the Blackbird Mountain guided tour.
An investigation is underway with questions raised about why the trip went ahead when the forecast predicted a large snowstorm in the area.
The avalanche was rated as a D2.5 on a destructive potential scale of D1 to D5, according to the Sierra Avalanche Centre.
It was over half a mile in length with a depth of around 2m.
The storm has also closed several highways, including Interstate 80 and Highway 50.
It is the worst avalanche incident in the US since 1982 when seven people died in the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe, in California.
The deadliest avalanche recorded in the US was in 1910 in Wellington, Washington, where 96 people were killed after a large avalanche swept two Great Northern passenger trains into a gorge.
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