California Avalanche

Authorities say the bodies of eight backcountry skiers have been found and one remains missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe in California. Search and rescue crews were dispatched to the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada after a 911 call reporting an avalanche Tuesday morning. Six others were found alive. Heavy snow and the threat of additional avalanches slowed the rescue effort in the mountains near Castle Peak, northwest of Lake Tahoe. Authorities have told the families the mission has moved from rescue to recovery. They say the eight victims were found fairly close together, and that three of them were discovered by the skiers who survived.

The six women killed in an avalanche in California’s Sierra Nevada were among a group of eight close friends and experienced backcountry skiers on a trip together. That's according to a statement released by their families Thursday. Tuesday’s avalanche killed eight people. Six survived the disaster. Authorities say it will be at least another day before crews can attempt to recover the bodies and continue the search for a ninth person still missing and presumed dead.

The recovery of skiers killed in the deadliest U.S. avalanche in almost 45 years is dragging out because of what experts say is a prime rule for rescuers: Don’t make yourself a victim. A storm lashing California’s Sierra Nevada remote wilderness Thursday meant more avalanches were possible in the backcountry area where authorities said eight people died and one was still missing two days after the deadly slide. Rescuers faced the same potential perils that killed the backcountry skiers and professional guides as they pursued a sport with inherent risks — compounded by a storm that dropped feet of snow. Recovery efforts were set to resume Friday.