Updated - Eight Dead, One Missing in Deadliest US Avalanche in 45 Years, Guided backcountry group caught in massive slide near Lake Tahoe

UPDATED - Eight backcountry skiers have been found dead, and one remains missing following an avalanche in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, authorities announced Wednesday, marking the deadliest US avalanche disaster in nearly half a century.

The tragedy is the deadliest U.S. avalanche in 45 years, second only to an avalanche that killed 11 people on Washington's Mt. Rainer in 1981. Six other members of the guided group were rescued Tuesday evening after search crews braved "highly dangerous" conditions amid a relentless winter storm.

The avalanche was reported around 11:30 a.m. PT Tuesday in the Castle Peak area at an elevation of 8,200 feet in the Sierra Nevada northwest of Lake Tahoe. A group of 15 skiers — nine women and six men, including four guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides — encountered the avalanche during what should have been their return to the trailhead.

"The group was in the process of returning to the trailhead at the conclusion of a three-day trip when the incident occurred," Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement . The group had been staying at the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts since Sunday

"Someone saw the avalanche, yelled avalanche, and it overtook them rather quickly," said Capt. Russell "Rusty" Greene of the Nevada County Sheriff's Office .The bodies of the eight were found fairly close together, with three of those who died being guides on the trip.

Blackbird Mountain Guides, in a statement, said a dozen clients and several guides had been staying at huts near Frog Lake in Castle Peak since Feb. 15.

“The group was in the process of returning to the trailhead at the conclusion of a three-day trip when the incident occurred,” the company said.

The group of 15 skiers, including four guides from the company Blackbird Mountain Guides, had arrived at the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts on Sunday for what was meant to be a three-day excursion. They were in the process of returning to the trailhead at the conclusion of their trip when the incident occurred, the company confirmed in a statement. It was, by all accounts, the worst possible moment and the worst possible conditions for a slide of this magnitude.

The Sierra Avalanche Center received a report around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday that a large avalanche had buried seven to ten people, with three others attempting to rescue them on the spot.  The Nevada County Sheriff's Office was notified almost simultaneously through two channels: a call from Blackbird Mountain Guides themselves, and the activation of emergency beacons carried by the skiers.

In an updated statement at February 18, 2026 - 8.00am the company said:  "Our primary focus and entire team are currently dedicated to the search and rescue efforts in the Castle Peak area. We are in constant communication with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office and local Search and Rescue teams as they continue their work.

"Out of respect for the families involved and the integrity of search and rescue operations, we will provide a further statement update following the Sheriff’s Office press briefing scheduled for 11:00 AM PT today.

"Our thoughts are with the missing individuals, their families, and first responders in the field."

The slide took place on a north-facing slope at around 8,200 feet elevation, below a feature called Perry's Point — roughly half a mile from the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts and about 2.5 miles from the trailhead along Interstate 80. The route back to that trailhead, the Truckee Donner Land Trust notes on its own website, passes through "numerous avalanche hazards."

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said investigators would look into the decision to proceed with the trip on Sunday despite the forecast for a major storm. That morning at 6:49 a.m., the Sierra Avalanche Center issued an avalanche watch, indicating that large avalanches were likely in the next 24 to 48 hours.

The center increased the watch to a warning hours before the avalanche hit. It’s not known if the guides would have known about the warning before they ventured out.

Earlier, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office stated that: "The six initially reported skiers who survived the avalanche have been successfully rescued this evening by search and rescue teams with varying injuries. Due to extreme weather conditions, it took several hours for rescue personnel to safely reach the skiers and transport them to safety where they were medically evaluated by Truckee Fire. Two of the six skiers have been transported to a hospital for treatment. The search is ongoing, pending weather conditions. It should be noted it was initially believed there were 16 total persons, but that number has been updated to reflect 15 people who actually went on the trip."

The rescued skiers - including one guide and five clients - had taken refuge in a makeshift shelter made from tarpaulin sheets and communicated with authorities using a radio beacon and text messaging.

Getting to them, however, was an ordeal in itself. Rescue crews on skis and snowcats battled blizzard conditions for several hours before they could safely reach the survivors. Greene said the threat of triggering secondary avalanches was so significant that rescuers were hesitant to send anyone in on a snowmobile. Helicopter rescue, the fastest option in such terrain, was made impossible by whiteout conditions.

Nearly four dozen rescuers responded to the incident, including teams from Boreal Mountain Resort and Tahoe Donner's Alder Creek Adventure Center. Two of the six rescued skiers were transported to hospital for treatment of their injuries, while the remainder were evaluated on site.

The Sierra Avalanche Center's updated Wednesday morning statement offered little comfort to waiting families: "HIGH avalanche danger continues," it read. "Travel in, near, or below avalanche terrain not recommended. The potential continues for large to very large avalanches occurring in the backcountry today."

Donner Summit, near where Tuesday's slide occurred, is named for the Donner Party — the group of 19th-century pioneers who became trapped in these very mountains in the winter of 1846–47 and were forced to desperate measures to survive. That the Sierra Nevada demands respect in winter is not a lesson that needs to be invented; it is written into the geography itself.

Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches across the United States. As the search continues for nine people in the snowfields above Truckee, the fear is that this week's storm may add significantly to that grim tally. Families and friends are waiting. Rescuers are pressing on through dangerous terrain. And the mountain, for now, is not giving up its secrets.

This is a developing story. Updates will follow as rescue operations continue.