Six backcountry skiers were stranded and 10 others were missing on Tuesday, Feb. 17, after an avalanche in Northern California swept through as a powerful winter storm battered the region with heavy snow and high winds.
Search and rescue teams were dispatched at around 11:30 a.m. local time after receiving reports of an avalanche incident involving a group of skiers in steep backcountry terrain in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe, according to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. The group included four mountain guides and 12 skiers.
By 3:45 p.m. local time, the sheriff's office said at least six skiers survived the avalanche and remained at the site, where they were still waiting for rescuers. The other 10 people remained unaccounted for, according to the sheriff's office.
"Highly skilled rescue ski teams have departed from both Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner’s Alder Creek Adventure Center to make their way to the six known survivors, who have been directed to shelter in place as best they can in the conditions," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
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