At Least 15 Have Died on Tahoe-Area Slopes This Year

At least 15 people have died on the slopes around Lake Tahoe since Jan. 1. The toll includes nine members of a backcountry tour who were killed Tuesday in the deadliest avalanche in California’s recorded history. The group had been returning through a blizzard to the trailhead after a stay at the Frog Lake huts.

Friends and family identified six of the victims as mothers from the San Francisco Bay Area who were experienced skiers. Blackbird Mountain Guides hosted the tour; three of the group’s four guides died. Rescuers reached six survivors who had built a makeshift shelter with a tarp, and authorities recovered the bodies of the avalanche victims by Saturday, including a ninth person who had been missing.

Separate deaths followed. A search party found another skier apparently stranded on a challenging route two days after the avalanche. On Thursday, Colin Kang, 21, a recent San José State University graduate, was found dead on a black diamond run at Northstar and may have been trapped in a tree well.

United States, Lake Tahoe

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