Authorities say the bodies of eight skiers have been recovered and one person remains missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe, California.
AP , citing authorities on February 18, reported that rescue teams had found the bodies of eight skiers and were continuing the search for one missing person after they were buried in an avalanche near Lake Tahoe, California.
“Someone saw the avalanche, yelled ‘Avalanche!’ and it came on very quickly. The victims had almost no time to react,” said Captain Russell “Rusty” Greene of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office.
Snow blankets the area near Soda Springs, California, on February 18, 2026. Photo: AP.
Six people were rescued six hours after the avalanche struck on the morning of February 17th. The group of skiers were reportedly on a three-day trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California amidst a severe winter storm. Authorities said the trip included four guides, three of whom are believed to have died.
The group included both men and women, aged between 30 and 55, according to authorities. Some of the victims were members of the Sugar Bowl Academy community, a private boarding school and ski club located on the summit of Donner Mountain, according to the academy’s statement. The school did not release the identities of the victims or their specific connections to the academy.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said investigators will look into why the group of skiers decided to continue their trip on February 15 despite bad weather forecasts and avalanche warnings.
Hours before the avalanche occurred, the center raised the alert level to a dangerous alert, meaning an avalanche was certain to happen. It is unclear whether the guides were aware of this change before beginning their exit from the wilderness.
This is the deadliest avalanche in the U.S. since 1981, when 11 climbers died on Mount Rainier, Washington. Each winter, approximately 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Information Center.
This was also the second deadly avalanche near Castle Peak, California, this year, following a case in January 2026 where a person was buried.
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