LOS ANGELES — Eight skiers who went missing in an avalanche swept the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California on Tuesday have been confirmed dead after rescue teams combing through the backcountry found their bodies, authorities said on Wednesday.One skier is still unaccounted for, while six others, who had been stranded, have since been rescued.The bodies of the eight dead skiers are still trapped in the snow and can’t yet be recovered due to “pretty horrific” conditions, officials said.The search for a final missing skier continues but that person is presumed dead, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a news conference.Officials said one of the deceased was the spouse of someone on one of the search-and-rescue teams, making continued rescue efforts “challenging emotionally”.The avalanche, which now ranks as the deadliest single avalanche in the US in 45 years, occurred about 16 km north of Lake Tahoe.Fifteen skiers – including four guides and 11 clients — were reported missing after a “football-field” sized avalanche came barrelling down in the Castle Peak area around 11:30 local time (19:30 GMT). Six have been rescued.The sheriff’s office revised the number of people in the group to 15 from an earlier estimate of 16. “This is an ongoing incident and some facts do change,” Moon said at Wednesday’s press conference. Although 12 people had signed up for the ski tour, “one person last minute decided to back out of that trip”.The sheriff’s office received a 911 call reporting the avalanche around 11.30 am on Tuesday. About 46 emergency first responders joined the search party, which included a Sno-Cat vehicle, Moon said.The Sno-Cat was able to reach a location about 2 miles from where the six survivors were sheltering in a makeshift refuge constructed partly from tarpaulin sheets, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post late on Tuesday.Search and rescue volunteers skied the remaining 2 miles, where they found the six survivors, who had been able to recover three of the missing skiers’ bodies, Moon said. First responders were able to find five additional bodies, but were not able to return them to the Sno-Cat due to weather conditions.Two of the six surviving skiers were “not mobile because of the injuries they survived during the avalanche”, Moon said.“Due to extreme weather conditions, it took several hours for rescue personnel to safely reach the skiers and transport them to safety where they were medically evaluated by Truckee Fire,” the sheriff’s office statement said.The two injured skiers were transported to the hospital, Moon said. One was stabilized and released while the other was still being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.Of the six survivors, five were clients of the ski company and one was a tour guide. The sheriff’s office did not provide any additional information on the deceased, except that “one of the nine missing decedents is a spouse of one of our Tahoe Nordic search and rescue team members”. Once the bodies are recovered, they will be transported to the Placer County morgue.Families of the deceased have been notified. Authorities have not yet released any of their names.Officials say the victims are seven women and two men.”I want to offer my condolences to the family in this very trying time,” said Sheriff Wayne Woo of Placer Countyon Wednesday.Woo said the rescue operation was a joint effort involving two teams and roughly 50 crew members who had to traverse “extreme weather conditions” using specialised equipment.Among the survivors, one was a guide and five were clients of the Blackbird Mountain guided tour.The avalanche on Tuesday occurred as they were making their way back at the end of a three-day trip.Since the avalanche, another 3ft (90cm) of snow has fallen on the area, Tahoe National Forest supervisor Chris Feutrier said.”The hazard remains high,” he saidConditions on Wednesday remained dangerous, multiple officials said, with Woo describing the climate as “treacherous”.”Avoid the backcountry,” he said. “Please allow us to focus all of our resources on continuing to recover these bodies for the family and bring them home.”The Boreal Mountain Ski Resort, which is near where the accident occurred, has reported over 30in of snowfall since Tuesday.The resort decided to close on Tuesday because of high winds and low visibility.The storm has also closed several highways, including Interstate 80 and Highway 50. — Agencies
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