An avalanche hit a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, sweeping up four people and killing one, amidst a major storm with snow and gusty winds in the area, as reported by authorities.
Around 9:30 a.m., the avalanche occurred, leading to the closure of Palisades Tahoe. Search teams were dispatched to scour the area beneath the K-22 lift, which had just opened for the first time this season 30 minutes earlier. This lift provides access to "black diamond" runs designed for experienced skiers and snowboarders.
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Skier Mark Sponsler arrived at the KT-22 lift amidst strong winds and white-out conditions, only to discover that it had been closed. Little did he know that the avalanche had just occurred.
“There was screaming, there were skis and poles and a hand sticking up out of the snow,” Sponsler said the witness told him.
According to the sheriff's office, the avalanche debris field measured approximately 150 feet (45.72 meters) in width, 450 feet (137.16 meters) in length, and had a depth of 10 feet (3.05 meters).
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“This is a very sad day for my team and everyone here,” said an emotional Dee Byrne, president of Palisades Tahoe, as quoted by AP.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office has identified the individual who lost their life as Kenneth Kidd, aged 66, hailing from the nearby areas of Truckee and Point Reyes. One person sustained a lower leg injury, while two others received treatment for injuries that were not specified and were subsequently released, according to officials.
The avalanche occurred on the steep slopes in the GS Gully area. Michael Gross, the vice president of mountain operations, stated that ski patrols had been monitoring the avalanche conditions on these slopes since Sunday.
“They’ve been up there doing control work, evaluating weather conditions, setting up all safety markings, hazard markings, et cetera, to get them prepared for today’s opening,” Gross said at a news conference Wednesday.
The cause of the avalanche is currently being investigated, according to officials. This incident occurred as a powerful storm was anticipated to bring up to 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow to the highest elevations by early Thursday.
Palisades, which served as the venue for the 1960 Winter Olympics, is situated on the western shore of Lake Tahoe, approximately 40 miles (64 kilometers) away from Reno, Nevada. At the moment of the avalanche, the winds at the top of the Palisades resort, located at an elevation of 8,000 feet, were gusting between 31 mph and 38 mph.
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Dan Lavely, aged 67 and a resident of Reno, holds a season pass for Palisades. On Monday, he primarily skied at Alpine Meadows, where there was minimal snow, and during that time, the KT-22 lift remained closed.
The KT-22 run, running alongside the lift, is known for having hosted the giant slalom event during the 1960 Olympics, as mentioned by Dan Lavely.
“Really good skiers love it because it’s really steep,” he said. “I remember when I was really young I was skiing around there. I fell over and slid like two-thirds of the way down the mountain. There was no way to stop because it’s just so steep.”
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The fatality on Wednesday marked the first avalanche-related death in the US this season, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which monitors avalanches nationwide.
In 2020, an avalanche at Alpine Meadows claimed the life of one skier and seriously injured another, occurring just a day after a major storm. Also, another avalanche at the same resort in March 1982 resulted in the tragic deaths of seven individuals, including several resort employees.
