The company leading 15 backcountry skiers through the snowy Sierra Nevada wilderness near Tahoe, where they were caught in a deadly avalanche, warned of avalanche conditions just days before the incident.
Blackbird Mountain Guides, a company that offers guides for skiing, climbing and other outdoor experiences, posted a video on its Instagram account with a caption warning that, with the snow conditions in Tahoe, people needed to exercise caution due to concern of abnormally behaving avalanches.
The group of backcountry skiers was finishing a three-day trek to the Frog Lake Huts when they were caught in a football field-sized avalanche near Castle Peak. Rescuers saved six surviving skiers Tuesday and located eight deceased skiers. One skier remains missing but is presumed dead as rescue operations have shifted to recovery operations amid stormy winter weather and continued risk of avalanches.
Three out of four of the company’s guides who were leading the trip are among the dead.
came in anticipation of a winter storm forecast for the Tahoe region, expected to bring several feet of snow and dangerous travel conditions.
In the video, guides on skis dig through a layer of soft snow at Mt. Rose on the Nevada side of Tahoe to find a “microcrust” and a layer of “sugary weak facets.” At a higher elevation, they find, the crust is “almost nonexistent.”
“This weak layer could lead to some unpredictable avalanches!” text on the screen reads as a guide shuffles soft snow through his fingers.
explains that the snow was forming “atypical layering” from what would normally be expected at this point in the season.
“Typically, we’d expect small amounts of faceting between big storms, but with a crust and extended dry period for the month of January into February, faceting has been a driving force in the snowpack,” the company said.
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“As we move into a large storm cycle this week, pay close attention to places where faceting has been particularly strong – avalanches could behave abnormally, and the hazard could last longer than normal,” the company said.
The company urged people to “use extra caution” through the week and pay attention to alerts from the Sierra Avalanche Center.
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