Avalanche In Tahoe Ski Resort Killed One Skier, Another One Hurt

(Photo : Getty Images/Mario Tama)

One person was killed while another one was wounded following an avalanche that happened in Lake Tahoe, California in the United States.

Authorities said that the fatality is a male while the injured individual had sustained life-threatening wounds.

Response Operation

They bared that the incident happened at about 12:30 p.m. of Wednesday at the Palisades Tahoe ski area, which is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the west side of Lake Tahoe.

Officials from the Olympic Valley Fire Department immediately responded to Palisades Tahoe after receiving a word regarding an avalanche in the ski area.

The OVFD further contacted ski patrol, who confirmed an avalanche in the GS Bowl of KT 22. The OVFD also began recruiting allied agencies and pooling resources in support of Palisades Ski Patrol efforts, including the Placer County Sheriff's Office and the Palisades Tahoe.

Meanwhile, authorities from the Placer County Sheriff's Office have provided aid to the team from Olympic Valley Fire and Palisades Tahoe when it comes to the search and rescue operation.

On the other hand, Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue was activated along with allied agency partners and assets from the west side.

The PCSO is also investigating the said incident.

Officials and responders have expressed sympathies to the victims of the incident.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with their family members at this difficult time,'' they said.

They mentioned that at present, there is no other missing individual who have been reported following the incident.

More than 100 Palisades personnel participated in the beacon search, while two probe lines have been completed.

Due to the incident, the mountain is closed for the remainder of the day.

Authorities mentioned that the avalanche debris field is approximately 150 feet wide, 450 feet long and 10 feet deep.

Based on initial probe, the avalanche came following a series of winter storms that are passing over the country from west towards the east direction.

They said that Winter Storm Finn, in particular, had dumped more than a foot of snow in the area.

Officials said that dangerous weather had persisted in multiple regions of the US on Wednesday, including the ongoing floods along the East Coast and another winter storm hammering the Northwest.

Dangerous Conditions To Continue

The National Weather Service defined avalanche as a rapid flow of snow down a hill or mountainside.

They said that although avalanches can occur on any steep slope given the right conditions, certain times of the year and types of locations are naturally more dangerous.

While avalanches are sudden, there are typically a number of warning signs you can look for or feel before one occurs.

Experts said that dangerous avalanche conditions are expected to continue across the central Sierra Nevada. They also warned that the human-triggered avalanches are likely, and natural avalanches are also possible.

Authorities explained that there is a weak layer of snow that is buried one to two feet below the fresh snow that fell this week.

On the other hand, gusty winds in addition to heavy snow could cause wind drifts to pile up.

The weight from the additional snow in either of those scenarios could overload the weak layers of snow beneath it, prompting an avalanche.