Overview
- Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon confirmed eight fatalities with one person still unaccounted for as crews proceed cautiously in high avalanche danger.
- Six members of the party were rescued after sheltering under a tarp during heavy snowfall, and two of the survivors were taken to a hospital.
- The group of 15—four guides and 11 clients on a Blackbird Mountain Guides trip—was returning from the Frog Lake huts when the slide struck near Castle/Perry Peak around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
- The Sierra Avalanche Center had issued a high-danger warning forecasting large avalanches during a powerful storm that dropped several feet of snow and produced strong winds.
- Investigators are examining the decision to run the guided excursion despite the forecast, and officials said satellite SOS and avalanche beacons helped locate and communicate with the survivors.