- Title: Eight skiers confirmed dead in California avalanche, one still missing
- Date: 18th February 2026
- Summary: Two people were killed after school was hit by shell fire in the separatist-held town of Horlivka in eastern Ukraine, Horlivka prosecutor office said on February 25, 2022. HORLIVKA, DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE (FILE - FEBRUARY 25, 2022) (REUTERS) SCHOOL BUILDING DAMAGED AFTER SHELLING PORTRAITS SEEN THROUGH BROKEN WINDOW VARIOUS OF DEAD WOMAN’S BODY ON FLOOR COVERED A devastat
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- Keywords: avalanche california rescue sierra nevada
- Location: NEVADA CITY + TRUCKEE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: NEVADA CITY + TRUCKEE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA007661918022026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: At least eight skiers died in an avalanche in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, and a ninth is presumed dead, authorities said on Wednesday, making the disaster one of the deadliest single avalanches in U.S. history.
Rescuers on skis were able to reach six survivors amid an intense winter storm that has dropped several feet of fresh snow on the high Sierra in recent days. One skier remains unaccounted for.
The avalanche - the length of a football field, according to authorities - struck in the Castle Peak area of Truckee, California, about 10 miles north of Lake Tahoe, around 11:30 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, engulfing a group of backcountry skiers who were completing a three-day guided excursion.
One of the rescued skiers is still being treated in a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
The survivors had taken refuge in a makeshift shelter, constructed partly from tarpaulin sheets, and communicated with rescuers via radio beacon and text messaging.
Two rescue teams totaling about 50 members were dispatched from the Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Tahoe Donner's Alder Creek Adventure Center and approached the avalanche zone from the south and north.
The rescuers faced "extreme" conditions, Moon said, including blinding snow and gale-force winds. A team was able to use a snowcat vehicle to get within two miles of the survivors and then ski to the accident site.
The eight dead skiers were found with their beacons active, and their bodies will be recovered when weather permits, authorities said. One was married to a member of the search-and-rescue team.
The group of skiers had been finishing a three-day excursion with Blackbird Mountain Guides at the time of the avalanche. The tour group included four guides and 11 clients, who stayed at the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts located near Donner Summit just northwest of Truckee, at about 7,500 feet elevation (2,300 meters).
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