Three of the six survivors of the Tahoe avalanche were buried in the snow before being rescued – The Mercury News

Three survivors of last week’s deadly avalanche near Lake Tahoe were buried under snow before being dug out by skiers after the disaster, according to the first avalanche report from the Sierra Avalanche Center.

A rescue below Perry’s Peak would not be difficult, experts say, as those at the top usually have only about ten minutes to find and dig out avalanche survivors – who may have suffered severe trauma as they were swept away by the ice wall – before they run out of oxygen and asphyxiate. With 12 skiers buried under the snow and only three on the surface, it would be impossible for all of them to be found alive.

“That would be very difficult,” said Robert Rice, an associate professor at UC Merced and a former avalanche forecaster. “Digging in the snow is very difficult.”

This report was based on information gathered in the past days when the weather allowed the responders to reach the mountain where nine people died in this slide.

It also confirmed that the avalanche was a soft avalanche, “relating to fresh snow,” Rice said. A soft-slab avalanche may involve fresh snow itself, or a weaker layer below may fail and release new snow to the surface. Those conditions can be caused by new snow falling on existing snow; a cornice, or mass of hanging, falling snow; or a human bullet.

A group of backcountry skiers and their guides were returning from a three-day trip to remote Frog Lake cabins on Feb. 17 when they were hit by an avalanche around 11:30 in the morning During the conditions that will be white, rescuers arrived at the scene that night to find six survivors who were able to find three people who were with them. Survivors were evacuated from the mountain, but rescue operations have been delayed for several days due to continued bad weather and the risk of an avalanche.

The bodies of the 9 dead skiers were found by rescue teams on Friday and Saturday after the avalanche subsided. The nine victims included six women who were part of a group of friends described by their families as skilled skiers “connected by the love of the outdoors.” The other three victims are guides with Blackbird Mountain Guides, a tour company.

The police on Saturday reported that initial information indicated that two people behind the group avoided the slide. According to the avalanche center, this 400-meter-long slide caught 12 members of the group and buried them completely.

Most of the known information about conditions in the area comes from forecasters who went to the scene and rescue workers, but even that didn’t happen until several days after the avalanche, said Andy Anderson, an avalanche forecaster at the Tahoe National Forest Sierra Avalanche Center. Other details were provided by members of the rescue team.

“We still don’t have all the information we hope to get,” Anderson said. “The rest we will not get because of the circumstances and conditions that affect that event.”

The slope where the avalanche occurred was at the foot of Perry’s Peak, a ridge east of Castle Peak, which is full of trees except for the gap in the white face where the eruption began, according to the report. Authorities reported that the skier had time to yell “Avalanche!” before the group is consumed. The three skiers who were stuck on the road then started a search for their partners and were able to rescue three of the dead alive, said the report.

“It can happen very quickly. It can overwhelm them without any warning,” Rice said. “You really don’t have time to react.”

The avalanche that hit the group was rated by the center at 2.5 on the destructive force classification scale, with a class 2 slide capable of burying people, and a class 3 avalanche capable of crushing trees or destroying a small structure.

The search for the surviving swimmers would begin with those who were not buried, considering who was washed away, said Rice. After that they will have to make sure that the place is safe so that others can rescue.

“It’s only (seconds),” Rice said.

All skiers on the expedition were equipped with avalanche beacons, which would be set to “receive” mode, to pick up the signals of those buried and allow searchers to find them. Those signals are used to get closer to victims, when probe poles are used to locate them in the snow, Rice said.

Once they are found, digging to access them can take minutes to an hour, depending on the depth of the snow.