Lake Tahoe avalanche victim was married to search and rescue team member: sheriff

"One of eight skiers killed in a horrific avalanche Tuesday north of Lake Tahoe was married to a search and rescue team member, officials revealed. REUTERS "This incident has specifically struck our organization and that team hard as one of the nine missing decedents is a spouse of one of our Tahoe Nordic search and rescue team members," Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo told reporters Wednesday."

"The devastating avalanche struck a party of 15 skiers - four guides with Blackbird Mountain Guides and 11 clients - as they returned from a three-day excursion in the remote mountains near Lake Tahoe. At least eight died as a snow slide the size of a football field hit, with one more missing and presumed dead, officials said. The tragedy prompted a desperate search by a slew of agencies, including the Tahoe rescue team."

An avalanche north of Lake Tahoe struck a party of 15 skiers returning from a three-day excursion, consisting of four guides and 11 clients. The snow slide, about the size of a football field, buried multiple people; at least eight were killed and one remained missing and presumed dead. One of the deceased was married to a Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue volunteer, who did not participate in the subsequent search. Multiple agencies conducted a desperate search, hampered by severe winter weather and continued avalanche risk. Responders rescued six survivors who sheltered under tarps and communicated with authorities using an iPhone SOS feature.

Read at California Post