Avalanche rescue in Sierra Nevada turns into race against storm and time

A rescue operation in California’s Sierra Nevada has pulled six skiers to safety after a powerful avalanche struck their group, but the mission has shifted into a prolonged and weather-dependent search for the remaining nine as a major winter storm continues to batter the mountains.

The survivors were reached only after hours of slow movement through deep snow and unstable terrain.

“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,” the Nevada County sheriff’s office said, noting that two people were taken to hospital. “The search is ongoing, pending weather conditions.”

The scale of the response, 46 emergency personnel deployed into a high-risk zone, reflects both the remoteness of the Castle Peak area near Frog Lake and the fact that the avalanche danger has not subsided. Earlier in the day, Captain Russell Greene cautioned that every step into the field had to be measured. Rescuers, he said, were facing a “slow” and “tedious” process because “rescuers have to be very careful accessing the area due to the fact that the avalanche danger is still very high”.

The group, made up of ski guides and clients, had triggered emergency alerts through their personal beacons, which allowed authorities to establish contact and helped direct the initial phase of the rescue. Before they were reached, the stranded skiers improvised a shelter to wait out the storm.

“They are doing the best they can,” Greene said at the time. “They have taken refuge in an area, they have made up a makeshift shelter with a tarp and are doing everything they can to survive and wait for rescue.”

The operation is unfolding as the Sierra Nevada absorbs one of the most intense winter systems of the season. Forecasts call for as much as 240cm of snow at higher elevations within two days, accompanied by strong winds capable of rapidly reshaping the snowpack.

Across the Lake Tahoe region, ski resorts have closed or scaled back operations, an indication of how widespread the hazards have become. Even staging areas are buried, with images from the sheriff’s office showing rescuers crossing car parks under knee-deep snow just to begin the ascent.