Eight backcountry skiers have been found dead and one remains missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe in California, officials said on Wednesday (February 18, 2026), making it the deadliest avalanche in the U.S. in more than four decades.

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said during a news conference that authorities have told the families the mission has moved from rescue to recovery. It is the deadliest avalanche in the U.S. since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier, Washington.

Crews have faced treacherous conditions in their search for the missing skiers since the avalanche struck on Tuesday morning (February 17, 2026). Search and rescue crews were dispatched to the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada after a 911 call reporting the avalanche had buried 15 skiers.

Six of them have been found alive.

The group was on a three-day trek in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada as a monster winter storm pummelled the West Coast.

Two of those rescued after several hours of searching were taken to a hospital for treatment, said Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. Heavy snow and the threat of additional avalanches slowed the rescue effort 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 until just a few years ago was closed to the public. It sees an average of nearly 35 feet of snow a year, according to the Truckee Donner Land Trust, which owns a cluster of huts where the group was staying near Frog Lake.

The Sierra Avalanche Center warned on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) that the risk of avalanche remains high and advised against travel in the area. Multiple feet of snowfall and gale-force winds in recent days left the snowpack unstable and unpredictable, and more snow was predicted to fall, the centre said.

Nevada County Sheriff Capt. Russell Greene said authorities were notified about the avalanche by Blackbird Mountain Guides, which was leading the expedition, and the skiers’ emergency beacons. The sheriff’s office said on Tuesday night (February 17, 2026) that 15 backcountry skiers had been on the trip, not 16 as initially believed.

The skiers were on the last day of a backcountry skiing trip and had spent two nights in the huts, said Steve Reynaud, an avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center. He said the area requires navigating rugged mountainous terrain. All food and supplies need to be carried 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 occurred.

“Our thoughts are with the missing individuals, their families, and first responders in the field,” Blackbird said in a statement on Wednesday (February 18, 2026). The company said it is helping authorities in the search.

Several Tahoe ski resorts had been fully or partially closed due to the weather. Resorts, which use controlled explosions and barriers to manage avalanche threats, were not expected to be at as high of a risk as the backcountry, the centre said.

The area near Donner Summit was closed for nearly a century before the land trust and its partners in 2020 acquired Frog Lake, which is framed by 1,000-foot-high cliffs. Donner Summit is named for the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.

In January, an avalanche in the region buried a snowmobiler and killed him, authorities said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center.

Published – February 19, 2026 07:29 am IST

Trucks are lined up along Interstate 80 during a storm in Truckee, California, on February 17, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP