New avalanche details show 3 skiers were unburied, dug out 3 companions

Andrew Graham, The Sacramento Bee on Feb 23, 2026

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When the avalanche struck a party of skiers traveling out of Tahoe-area backcountry last week, three people in the party who weren’t buried dug out three companions who survived, according to new information from the Sierra Avalanche Center.

“Remaining members of the party performed a companion search and were able to rescue 3 buried individuals,” the Center reported.

Previous reports had indicated nine or 10 people were caught in the slide, and it was unclear if those unburied had in fact rescued any of their companions. The Center received information from investigators with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, who interviewed the survivors as part of an ongoing criminal probe, Sierra Avalanche Center education coordinator Wendy Antibus told The Sacramento Bee on Monday.

Statements from the families of six longtime friends and skiing moms who were among the dead, as well as from the company Blackbird Mountain Guides, which led the group, indicate the skiers were equipped with the complete suite of avalanche safety gear.

That would include avalanche beacons, devices that transmit a skier’s location, as well as shovels and collapsible poles known as probes. When someone’s skiing partner is buried but they are not, they switch their beacon from transmitting a location to searching for other beacons nearby.

In a race against time, given the risk of suffocation under the snow, the unburied skier would use their beacon to find their companion’s location. They then would thrust the probe into the snow to make sure they’re above them, and then use their shovel to begin digging. It is a frightening operation, but one drilled into guides and skiers during avalanche safety courses.

Digging someone out of recently avalanched snow is difficult and time-consuming, Antibus said. “That does take a substantial amount of work,” she said, “and it is substantially exhausting.”

Earlier reports indicated that of the six survivors, two people were hospitalized due to injuries sustained during the avalanche.

Nevada County sheriffs officials previously told reporters that survivors of the avalanche said someone in the party had seen the snow slide coming and yelled “avalanche,” but that the snow then reached the group before they had time to avoid it.

Volunteers with the Nevada County Sheriffs Office Search and Rescue Team made their way to the accident site that night, where they found the survivors taking shelter under a tarp amid the howling blizzard. They were able to bring out the six survivors that night. The bodies of the nine victims weren’t extricated until the weekend because of the inclement weather.

The group began a two-night trip into the backcountry on Feb. 15. The trip coincided with the start of a well-forecast, and, for skiers and snowboarders, highly anticipated series of snowstorms that began Monday.

Avalanche forecasters predicted the storm would lead to an elevated risk of slides as snowfall accumulated rapidly on a snow pack that had not seen a significant refresh since the start of the year.

The group was staying in backcountry huts at Frog Lake, in a well-visited area for backcountry skiers known as Castle Peak. On Monday morning those forecasters issued a high avalanche danger warning. On Tuesday the tour group sought to exit the backcountry. The avalanche struck them not long into that journey.

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