Nevada County authorities detail rescue, recovery after deadly Sierra avalanche
The avalanche in the Sierra backcountry Tuesday near Donner Summit — in which six people were rescued hours after the slide — killed eight skiers and left one missing and presumed dead, Northern California authorities said Wednesday. Extreme weather hampered rescue efforts and forced authorities to shift from rescue to recovery.
“Our mission now is to get them home,” said Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon in announcing the news at her office in Grass Valley, surrounded by officials from the more than a dozen agencies that helped in the effort.
Moon said dispatchers received a 911 call at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 17 reporting an avalanche in the Castle Peak area, north of Interstate 80 near Donner Summit in the Tahoe National Forest.
“It’s important to know this is an ongoing incident,” Moon said, as she described the “horrific” and “whiteout conditions” that made the operation much more difficult.
What do we know about the group of skiers?
The group was part of a guided three-day backcountry ski trip led by Blackbird Mountain Guides of Truckee. The skiers were returning from the Frog Lake huts when the avalanche struck in rugged, ungroomed terrain near the Pacific Crest Trail.
Initially, authorities were told 16 people were on the trip. After reviewing the company’s manifest, officials confirmed 15 people — four guides and 11 clients — were on the outing after one person canceled at the last minute.
Six survivors — one guide and five clients — were located and rescued. Two were injured and unable to walk, Moon said. Both were transported for medical treatment. One was released, and the other remained hospitalized with injuries described as not life-threatening. They ranged from 30 to 55 years old, according to Moon. One is a man and five are women.
Eight others were found dead. One skier remained missing as of Wednesday afternoon, officials said. Moon said the group swept under included seven men and two women.
Survivors, she said, searched for others in their party and located at least three of the victims as they awaited rescue.
“We did have conversation with the families of the folks that are still outstanding,” Sheriff Moon said. “And let them know that our mission went from a rescue to a recovery. It’s a difficult conversation to have with loved ones ... and I can’t even imagine the amount of questions and stress that those families are going through right now as we move forward through this.”
Reporters asked the sheriff about the mountain guides company choosing to head out in dangerous conditions. Moon said there were plenty of forecasts and alerts, before Tuesday, warning the public about the winter storm moving into the area.
“Lots of forecast on this storm. You know, those are the decisions that the guide company clearly had made. We’re still in conversation with them on the decision factors that they made,” Moon said. “Those are all questions that we’re asking.”
The sheriff said Nevada County’s backcountry is a beautiful area a lot of people, including herself, enjoy for recreation. But the risks can be high during dangerous weather conditions.
“No matter how prepared you are,” Moon said. No matter how experienced you are.”
Massive mutual aid response
The Sheriff’s Office coordinated a large-scale mutual aid response with Truckee Fire, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue, as well as the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and its search and rescue team from Nevada.
About 50 rescuers deployed from both sides of Interstate 80, using Sno-Cats and skis to reach the remote site. I-80 was closed, and deep snow and whiteout conditions delayed equipment access.
“Extreme weather conditions, I would say, is an understatement,” Moon said. “Lots of snow, gale force winds, winds making it impossible to see.”
Rescuers reached the area shortly after 5:30 p.m. A Sno-Cat was able to get within about 2 miles of the site before crews skied the rest of the way because of avalanche danger and terrain concerns.
The six survivors had sheltered in place and attempted to locate missing members of their group before rescuers arrived, Moon said. Three deceased skiers had been located by members of the group prior to the arrival of search teams.
The recovery effort remained active Wednesday, but Moon emphasized that weather and avalanche conditions — not a lack of resources — were limiting access.
“It’s not a resource issue as we speak,” she said. “It is the conditions — weather conditions and safety conditions for our response teams.”
Chris Feutrier, a forest supervisor of the U.S. Forest Service’s Tahoe National Forest, said the avalanche path was about the length of a football field and was triggered when a “persistent weak layer” of snow collapsed under a heavy load of new snowfall.
The avalanche occurred about a mile from another slide reported in early January in the Castle Peak area, Moon confirmed, though an exact location of the slide wasn’t yet available.
A weak layer remains in place in the Castle Peak recovery area, Feutrier said, and has been covered by roughly three more feet of snow, keeping avalanche danger high.
Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said 28 members of the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team responded with two Sno-Cats.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the men and women that make up the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team,” Woo said. “These are true heroes that answer the call and selflessly serve and put themselves in harm’s way.”
Woo said one of the deceased was the spouse of a Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team member, adding that the tragedy had deeply affected the team.
“We are committed to being here until the end and making sure we make all these recoveries,” he said.
Beacons alerted state officials
State officials said California’s mutual aid system was activated shortly after the avalanche was reported.
Don O’Keefe, chief of law enforcement for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said the California State Warning Center received a call around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday from a private emergency beacon company reporting distress in remote Nevada County. His office contacted the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, which had already received word of the incident.
O’Keefe said Cal OES personnel communicated with one of the trip’s guides for more than four hours, relaying information to local authorities and coordinating resources requested by the incident commander.
“Our job is to get the resources that that incident commander needs to safely and successfully complete that mission,” O’Keefe said.
He said specialized winter rescue teams and equipment were requested from across California, including as far away as Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The effort relied heavily on volunteer search-and-rescue members who often provide their own gear and train on their own time.
“The vast majority of these individuals are volunteers,” O’Keefe said. “They buy their own equipment, they train on their own time, and they put a big investment into it.”
O’Keefe said resources requested by Nevada County had been met and that Cal OES would continue assisting through the recovery phase.
Cause of death pending
Authorities said the cause of death for the victims has not been determined. Nevada County contracts with Placer County for pathology services, and the deceased will be transported to the Placer County morgue in Roseville after recovery and identification.
Woo, the Placer County sheriff, urged the public to avoid backcountry travel during the current storm cycle and to check conditions with the Sierra Avalanche Center before heading into the mountains.
“Please avoid the Sierras during this current storm and in the upcoming days,” Woo said. “Please allow us to focus all of our resources on continuing to recover these bodies for the family and bring them home.”
Officials said they would release the names of the victims after notification of next of kin.
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Nevada County authorities detail rescue, recovery after deadly Sierra avalanche."
