"The avalanche occurred about 10 miles north of Lake Tahoe at about 11.30am on Tuesday, engulfing a group of backcountry skiers including four guides and 11 clients. The Nevada county sheriff's office said in a Facebook post late Tuesday that the six who survived and had been rescued had taken refuge in a makeshift shelter, constructed partly from tarpaulin sheets. The office communicated with rescuers via radio beacon and text messaging. Due to extreme weather conditions, it took several hours for rescue personnel to safely reach the skiers and transport them to safety where they were medically evaluated by Truckee Fire, it said."
"The sheriff's office revised the number of people in the group to 15 from an earlier estimate of 16. Reports have noted that if all nine missing skiers should perish, the avalanche would rank among the deadliest single avalanches on record in the US. Conditions in the area this week, with heavy snowfall, strong winds, and low visibility have created what scientists at the Central Sierra Snow Lab called some of the worst conditions the region has experienced in years."
An avalanche struck the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada about 10 miles north of Lake Tahoe around 11.30am on Tuesday, engulfing a group of backcountry skiers including four guides and 11 clients. Nine skiers remain missing and six survivors took refuge in a makeshift shelter partly constructed from tarpaulin sheets. Rescuers communicated with survivors via radio beacon and text messaging, and transport to safety took several hours due to extreme weather. Two of the survivors were taken to hospital. Search operations involved 46 emergency responders and ski-rescue teams, and continued amid a winter storm warning.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]