The bodies of nine skiers who were killed in an avalanche in the mountains near Lake Tahoe earlier this week have been recovered, the authorities said Saturday, bringing to a close an effort that had been hampered for several days by hazardous weather conditions.
A ninth victim who had been missing was found and recovered along with four other victims on Friday, Lt. Dennis Haack of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said at an afternoon news conference.
Four other victims were recovered on Saturday morning, according to the sheriff’s office.
“While we wish we could have saved them all, we are grateful that we can bring them home,” said Shannan Moon, the sheriff.
The avalanche on Tuesday was the deadliest in modern California history. The victims were part of a group of 15 people, including four professional guides, finishing up a three-day back country trek near Castle Peak, a remote part of the Sierra Nevada.
The group had set out on its trip last Sunday even as the region anticipated its first big blizzard of the year and an avalanche prediction center had warned of a “high” danger level for travel in avalanche-prone areas.
Officials said Saturday that an avalanche strong enough to knock down a house descended on the group when most were gathered in one spot, adding that two skiers who were at the rear of the group had not been swept away. The authorities did not identify the survivors.
Officials for the first time identified the victims, including a group of six women and three of the group’s guides, two men and one woman. The six women were Carrie Atkin, 46; Liz Clabaugh, 52; Danielle Keatley, 44; Kate Morse, 45; Caroline Sekar, 45; and Kate Vitt, 43.
Family members, who had previously identified the women, said they were a friend group, including two sisters, who regularly took trips to the Lake Tahoe area. Several were from the Bay Area.
The three guides, who worked for Blackbird Mountain Guides, were Andrew Alissandratos, 34; Michael Henry, 30; and Nicole Choo, 42.
Officials said on Saturday that the recovery operations began on Friday, after they took steps to reduce the threat of further avalanches in the area and deemed conditions safe enough to send in rescuers. A storm that passed Thursday also had complicated recovery efforts.
PG&E, the utility, used helicopters with so-called bambi buckets, typically used for fighting wildfires, to pack down the snow in avalanche-prone spots and douse it with water before rescue teams were sent in, according to Mr. Haack.
All of the bodies were hoisted out using helicopters and taken to a staging area near Frog Lake huts, where the group of skiers had been lodging before their trip, officials said.
The ninth victim, who had been missing, was found “relatively close to where everyone else was located,” Mr. Haack said.
Of the guides who were killed, Mr. Alissandratos had the most formal training, including certifications to teach avalanche safety and guide skiers in the backcountry. He worked year-round as a mountain guide.
“The mountains are where Andrew feels most like himself,” a short bio on Blackbird’s website read.
Mr. Henry was certified as an apprentice backcountry ski guide. He learned to love skiing and climbing while living in Vermont, then became an avid backcountry skier in Colorado. He moved to the Lake Tahoe area in 2019, in part to ski in snow that was less prone to avalanches, he said in an online bio for Blackbird. He was married in September of last year.
His wife, Annie Koch, said in a post on Facebook, “Mike. I miss you more than words can hold. You were my greatest adventure, the one who showed me beauty in the struggle and light in the darkest places. How lucky I am to have had you in my life. I hope heaven has endless powder and bluebird days.”
Nicole Choo grew up in Ottawa, Canada, and worked in investment banking, biotech and start-ups, eventually landing in the Lake Tahoe area. She said in an online bio she had “worked in the outdoors part-time for most of my life.”
She traveled the world, surfing, mountain biking and backcountry skiing. In 2022 she completed a 1,000-mile canoe expedition transecting Alaska. Blackbird does not list her on its website, but the sheriff’s office identified her as one of the company’s guides.
Officials had previously said the ski group was caught in an avalanche about the length of a football field around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Six survivors, four men and two women, were rescued after using avalanche beacons and the SOS satellite functions on their iPhones.
Rescuers had traveled for several hours through deep snow in a snowcat, a treaded vehicle, and on skis before finally reaching the survivors at around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the county sheriff’s office. The survivors led the rescue team to the remains of three people, and rescuers later located five other victims.
Avalanche danger remained too high to begin retrieving the bodies until Friday, when search-and-rescue crews arrived by helicopter.
Orlando Mayorquín is a Times reporter covering California. He is based in Los Angeles.
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