1 dead, 1 injured following avalanche near Lake Tahoe as storm moves in, official says

An avalanche roared through a section of expert trails at a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring another, as a major storm with snow and gusty winds moved into the region, authorities said. The avalanche prompted Palisades Tahoe to close 30 minutes after it opened, and search crews combed the area to see if anyone was injured or trapped.

Advertisement Sgt. David Smith, a spokesperson for the Placer County sheriff, said hours later that one person, a male, died and another person sustained non life threatening injuries. He said nobody else was missing. The avalanche occurred around 9:30 a.m. on steep slopes under the KT 22 lift, which serves “black diamond” runs for skilled skiers and snowboarders.

Palisades Tahoe said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that both sides of the mountain at the resort would be closed for the rest of the day. Advertisement The avalanche debris field spanned about 150 feet (45.72 meters) wide, 450 feet long and 10 feet deep, the sheriff’s office said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their family members at this difficult time,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The avalanche happened as a powerful storm was expected to bring as much as 2 feet of snow to the highest elevations by early Thursday. Palisades, the site for the 1960 Winter Olympics, is on the western side of Lake Tahoe, about 40 miles from Reno, Nevada. The National Weather Service in Reno said 2 inches could fall per hour Wednesday around the lake.

A 110 mph gust was recorded Tuesday afternoon at the summit of Alpine Meadows, the adjoining resort, the weather service said. Dan Lavely, 67, of Reno, a season pass holder at Palisades, skied mostly at Alpine Meadows on Monday when there was very little snow and the KT 22 lift was closed. “They didn’t have enough snow to open the lift, it wasn’t even running.

... Today was supposed to be the first day they opened KT 22,” he said. The steep run along the side of the lift is where the grand slalom was held during the 1960 Olympics, he said. Advertisement “Really good skiers love it because it’s really steep,” he said. “I remember when I was really young I was skiing around there.

I fell over and slid like two thirds of the way down the mountain. There was no way to stop because it’s just so steep.” A 2020 avalanche at Alpine Meadows killed one skier and seriously injured another a day after a major storm. Another avalanche at Alpine Meadows in March 1982 killed seven people, including several employees of the ski resort..