Families are grieving losses in dangerous avalanche Tuesday.
In the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California, an avalanche was reported one of the deadliest in California’s history. The avalanche on February 17th was north of Lake Tahoe near Castle Peak there about 6 to 8 feet of snow that has fallen since Sunday with 60 mph winds. The new snow did not have time to bond to the previous layer causing it to be unstable before the avalanche swooped in and injured or killed skiers in a group of 15 people. In the group, eight people were killed, six people were injured, and one person is still not found but presumed dead
The group was on a three day backcountry trek in the Sierra Nevada on Tuesday morning but were trapped by the avalanche which hit around 11:30 a.m. that same day. There was a high avalanche warning and danger signs for Monday-Wednesday which were ignored by the group leader and group. In fact, the group leader talked the group into going anyway saying that they were capable of handling the event. Most likely, the mountain guide company “Blackbird Mountain Guides” will get sued especially considering the eight bodies could not be removed from the mountain due to the continuous storm. First responders and professional guides are wondering on social media why they would continue to go because they were trained even though there was incredibly dangerous signs saying specifically not to go.
The Blackbird Mountain Guides based in Truckee has ignored and declined answering questions about the disaster but was quick to send out employees to assist the injured. “As you can understand, this has not only been challenging for our community… it has also been challenging emotionally for our team,” said Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo. Wayne Woo was one of the individuals who told all individuals who were planning on skiing to stay out of the Sierra Nevada until after the storm passes but they didn’t listen. “Please allow us to focus all of our resources on continuing the recover these bodies for the families and bring them home.” It was extremely disappointing for him and his team who expressed why people should not go on this trip continued to go and risk or lose their lives ignoring the warnings.
The names of the individuals who were killed have not been released but two sisters were among their dead brother, McAlister Clabaugh who told the New York times “The idea that they are both gone is, I don’t even know how to put it into words.” The people and families were greatly impacted by this event in grievance and are “devastated beyond words.” The rescue workers were heavily thanked for their time and effort going out of their way in the dangerous conditions to find the injured or dead.
This avalanche was one of the deadliest in California’s history, and is a good example on why you should listen to the news when they tell you not to go skiing or do outdoor activities in dangerous situations with many warnings. Rescue workers are heavily working hard to find all of the people and bodies and they hope that this can help prevent future injuries based on avalanches that can be prevented.