Bodies of 9 skiers recovered days after avalanche in western US

By Seyit Kurt

ISTANBUL (AA) – Authorities have recovered the bodies of nine backcountry skiers killed in an avalanche in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the western US state of California, near the Nevada border, concluding a dayslong operation delayed by severe winter weather, officials said Saturday.

Nevada County Sheriff Shannon Moon said the final victim was located on Castle Peak, near the Lake Tahoe resort area, about 300 kilometers (190 miles) northeast of San Francisco.

The avalanche struck at around 11.30 am local time (1930GMT) Tuesday, during the final day of a three-day ski tour involving 15 people. Six survivors called for help, describing a slide roughly the length of a football field.

Rescue teams reached the group about six hours later, but were initially unable to recover the bodies. Moon said the recovery operation lasted several days as persistent heavy snowfall increased the risk of additional avalanches, making conditions unsafe for crews to return to the site immediately.

Authorities later used helicopters to trigger controlled releases of unstable snow before recovering the victims on Friday and Saturday.

Officials said the mountainous area will remain closed to visitors until mid-March as the investigation continues.