Crews worked to reduce the risk of more deadly avalanches Friday in the Sierra Nevada so recovery teams could reach the site of a Tuesday avalanche near Castle Peak, northwest of Lake Tahoe, the Associated Press reported. Authorities said the weather and the threat of additional slides have so far prevented safe recovery of victims’ bodies.
Rescue crews loaded a snow vehicle equipped with skis and other supplies and headed toward the avalanche area while helicopters circled overhead, according to the report. Officials described the mitigation work as intended to intentionally release unstable snowpack to reduce danger when rescue teams enter.
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office previously said the mitigation effort would include controlled explosions, but later said Friday that the operations involved using water to break up snow. The sheriff’s office said the work was done in partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric.
Authorities said brutal weather and continuing avalanche risk have kept crews from safely recovering the bodies of eight people killed and another still missing from the Tuesday incident, which officials described as roughly the size of a football field. Investigators are also examining the circumstances surrounding the disaster, including whether criminal negligence played a role, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman said Friday.
Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, declined to provide additional details about the investigation while it remains open, the AP reported. The sheriff’s office and a state agency that regulates workplace safety have both opened investigations into the events leading up to the avalanche and the actions taken by those organizing and leading the trip.
The questions under consideration include why the tour company that organized the backcountry ski trip did not cancel despite a powerful storm, and what the guides knew as conditions deteriorated. The AP report also noted that aviation and mitigation activity were ongoing as investigators try to determine what happened, and whether negligence occurred.
In statements released to families, the loved ones described six of the victims as friends in a close-knit group of experienced backcountry skiers, with the other three people killed identified as guides. The report said the families asked for privacy while they grieve, and it included details on how the victims were known in their communities.
Among those named were Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt, whose families said they connected through the love of the outdoors. The report identified Keatley as a Larkspur resident and included remarks from Larkspur Mayor Stephanie Andre, who said in a statement that Keatley was warm, kind, and had a quality that drew people to her.
The AP report also described Morse as working in the biotech industry north of San Francisco and described Vitt as a former SiriusXM and Pandora employee, citing information from online profiles. It described Atkin as a former corporate executive living in Lake Tahoe, and it said Jerome Bearden, her high school hurdling coach, recalled her as “Everybody liked Carrie” and said she was a “good person.”
Six of the victims were identified from the report as part of the skiers, while the names of the other victims had not been released as of the AP’s update. The report said the three-day trip began Sunday as storm warnings intensified, and by early Tuesday officials cautioned that avalanches were expected, a timeline that investigators are expected to scrutinize.
In a statement, Blackbird Mountain Guides, the company leading the expedition, said it “don’t have all the answers yet” and that “it may be some time before we do.” Founder Zeb Blais added that, “In the meantime, please keep those impacted in your hearts,” as rescue teams and investigators continued work amid the ongoing threat of slides.
Authorities also said an avalanche safety expert perspective is that it is not uncommon for backcountry skiers to go out when there is an avalanche watch or even a warning. The AP report said the guides involved with the trip were trained or certified in backcountry skiing and were instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.
This article’s underlying report includes a correction that Friday’s mitigation efforts used water rather than controlled explosives, as the sheriff’s office previously had indicated.