EIGHT of the nine skiers who vanished after getting caught in an avalanche have been found dead, and one is still missing, officials announced.
They were a part of a group of 15 who were taking a three-day backcountry excursions through a stretch of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Six otherskierswho were on the trip were rescued, but the rest disappeared after a wall of snow crashed down the mountainside near Lake Tahoe on Tuesday.
The grim update makes this the most deadly avalanche in the US since 1981 when mountain climbers were killed on Mount Rainier inWashington.
The group of 15 consisted of nine women and six men. One of the survivors was a guide while the others were clients, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said in a press conference.
The surviving skiers made contact with an emergency satellite messaging service immediately after the snow fell, but had to take shelter in a nearby wooded area under tarp for 12 hours before they were rescued.
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Efforts were made more difficult by a winter squall that’s been battering the West Coast and bringing dozens of inches of snow.
Moon said they have plenty of resources to continue their search for the remaining skier, but are being hindered by the heaps of snow which are at risk of falling.
Source: Drudge Report
