Vehicles are covered in snow in a parking lot near Soda Springs, California on February 18, 2026. | Photo credit: AP
Eight backcountry skiers are dead and one is missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe, California, officials said Wednesday (Feb. 18, 2026).
Nevada County Sheriff Shannon Moon said at a news conference that officials told the families the mission had changed from rescue to recovery. It was the deadliest avalanche in the US since 1981 when 11 climbers died on Mount Rainier in Washington.
Crews have faced treacherous conditions in the search for missing skiers since the avalanche hit Tuesday morning (February 17, 2026). Search and rescue crews were dispatched to the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada after a 911 call reported that 15 skiers had been buried by an avalanche.
Snow covers the road on an underpass along Interstate 80 near Soda Springs, California on February 18, 2026. | Photo credit: AP
Six of them were found alive.
The group was on a three-day trek in the Sierra Nevada of Northern California as a monster winter storm battered the West Coast.
Nevada County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Ashley Quadros said two of those rescued were taken to a hospital for treatment after an hours-long search. Heavy snow and the threat of additional avalanches have slowed rescue efforts in the mountains near Castle Peak, northwest of Lake Tahoe.
The area near Donner Summit is one of the snowiest places in the Western Hemisphere and was closed to the public until a few years ago. Truckee, which sees an average of about 35 feet of snow a year, has a cluster of cabins near Frog Lake, according to the Truckee Donner Land Trust.
The Sierra Avalanche Center issued a warning Wednesday (February 18, 2026) of a high avalanche danger and advised against travel in the area. Several feet of snowfall and gusty winds in recent days have made the snowpack unstable and unpredictable, and more snow is likely, the center said.
Nevada County Sheriff’s Capt. Russell Green said authorities were notified of the avalanche by emergency beacons from Blackbird Mountain Guides and skiers leading the expedition. The sheriff’s office said Tuesday night (Feb. 17, 2026) that 15 backcountry skiers were on the trip, not 16 as first believed.
The skiers were on the last day of a backcountry skiing trip and spent two nights in huts, said Steve Reynaud, an avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center. He said that the area requires traveling through rough mountainous terrain. Food and supplies should be taken to the huts.
Reaching the huts in winter takes several hours and requires backcountry skills, avalanche training and safety equipment, the land trust says on its website.
Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement that the group, including four guides, was returning to the trailhead when the avalanche hit.
“Our thoughts are with the missing people, their families and first responders in the field,” Blackbird said in a statement Wednesday (Feb. 18, 2026). The company said it was assisting authorities in the search.
Many Tahoe ski resorts are closed in whole or in part due to the weather. Resorts, which use barriers to manage controlled explosions and avalanche threats, may be at greater risk, as is the backcountry, the center said.
The area near Donner Summit was closed for nearly a century before the Land Trust and its partners acquired Frog Lake in 2020. Donner Summit is named for the infamous Donner Party, a leading group who resorted to cannibalism after being trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.
In January, an avalanche buried a snowmobiler in the area, killing him, officials said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the US, according to the National Avalanche Center.
Published – February 19, 2026 07:29 am IST
