California avalanche that killed 8 is deadliest in state history

The avalanche that claimed the lives of eight skiers this week near Lake Tahoe in California is the deadliest in state history. 

With avalanche warnings in effect through early Thursday, officials are still waiting for a powerful storm to clear so they can recover the bodies of the victims of Tuesday’s avalanche, which struck near Frog Lake in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe. Six of the 15 skiers involved in the avalanche survived, while one remains missing. 

“The group involved four guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides and 11 participants. They were returning to the trailhead on the last day of a three-day Hut Trip involving backcountry skiing. Five participants and one Blackbird guide survived the avalanche,” Zeb Blais, founder of Blackbird Mountain Guides, said in a statement. 

“We ask that people following this tragedy refrain from speculating. We don’t have all the answers yet, and it may be some time before we do,” Blais added. “In the meantime, please keep those impacted in your hearts.”

8 SKIERS FOUND DEAD, 1 MISSING AFTER MASSIVE LAKE TAHOE AVALANCHE

A rescue team departs to the site of an avalanche on a backcountry slope of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, where a group of skiers were stranded, in Nevada County, California, on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026.  (Nevada County Sheriff’s Office/Reuters)

The ski group involved also has deep ties to the alpine recreation community in Lake Tahoe, including the Sugar Bowl Academy ski school, which issued a statement late Wednesday mourning the loss of victims with “strong connections to Sugar Bowl, Donner Summit and the backcountry community.” 

It did not say how the skiers, said to range in age from 30 to 55, were connected to the school, which offers alpine and backcountry ski instruction and academics for young athletes. Officials have not yet released their names. 

The avalanche is the deadliest in the U.S. since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier in Washington state, and the second deadly avalanche near Castle Peak this year, after a snowmobiler was buried in January.

In 1982 in California, an avalanche crashed into the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe, killing seven people, including four resort employees who remained on site even though the resort had been closed for the day because of the dangerous conditions. 

In 2008, three men were killed in an avalanche while skiing out of bounds near the Mountain High resort in the San Gabriel Mountains, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

2 SKIERS KILLED IN AVALANCHE ON POPULAR MONT BLANC SKIING ROUTE NEAR FRENCH-SWISS BORDER

Snow covers a road on an underpass along Interstate 80 on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, near Soda Springs, Calif.  (Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP)

Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement Wednesday night that it has launched an investigation and paused field operations at least through the weekend while it prioritizes supporting the victims’ families.

The company guides who led the group were trained or certified in backcountry skiing and were also instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education. 

While in the field, the guides “are in communication with senior guides at our base, to discuss conditions and routing based upon conditions,” Blais added.

A snowmobile is parked at Alder Creek Adventure Center, one of two sites where search crews were launched to try to locate a group of missing skiers after an avalanche in a backcountry slope of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.  (Jenna Greene/Reuters)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The Sierra Avalanche Center issued an avalanche watch Sunday morning. It was elevated to a warning by 5 a.m. Tuesday, indicating that avalanches were expected. It is not clear whether the guides would have known about the change before they began their return trek, the AP reported. 

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.