Posted on 02/21/2026 6:55:50 PM PST by thecodont
All nine bodies of those killed in California's deadliest known avalanche have been recovered, according to officials with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.
In a press conference, Dennis Haack, a lieutenant at the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, confirmed that the deceased victims were removed from the area via helicopter over two days.
Haack also gave more information about what occurred during the avalanche. "My understanding is that there was initially two individuals that were towards the rear that were not initially swept away in the avalanche," he said. "Everybody that was located at the bottom of the fall was in close proximity."
Intense snow and wind in the area in the days after the avalanche made it difficult for search and rescue personnel to return to the site after the initial rescue of six survivors on Tuesday.
On Friday, helicopters were used to check the scene from the air and perform avalanche mitigation measures before members of the California Highway Patrol search and rescue team entered the area. The search and rescue team were able to locate the last missing person and remove five of the bodies from the area. The final four bodies were removed from the area Saturday.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
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Our family lost a father and son and devastated siblings children and grandchildren and a huge population of colleagues and customers all because they wanted to see some large fish and test their well developed skill of scuba diving.
This is the most irresponsible self centeredness I can imagine. These women, like my own family members should have kept their own safety as their foremost focus and not the experience of a back country ski trip for nothing other than their own pride and sense of achievement distract them from their duty as mothers and wives. The y had an important job to do at home and it was not recreational skiing.
Did the hiking/skiing party know that bad weather was coming in? Did they scout their route prior to leaving, looking for avalanche conditions? I sure hope they did.
The same goes for Laurel Clark, astronaut whose 10 yo son begged her not to go on the Columbia mission. I totally agree with you. So sorry for your family.
I read in another article it was a 3 day Backcountry guided expedition of women, skilled skiers. Three mountain guides died too.
Storm hit last day as they were leaving. Bad weatherluck.
Mountains are unforgiving.
Were they equipped with those balloon pack buoyancy devices?
I don’t know, blizzard whiteout condition for days after incident, rescuers couldn’t get in due to more avalanche hazards.
It just said 15 skiers were involved, 6 survived.
Also not reported is whether one or more of the skiers triggered the avalanche or if they were just passing below a path at a bad time.
Every dead body on Mount Everest was once a highly motivated and ambitious person. So maybe calm the f#€% down.
I can’t imagine living in the fear bubble that you must live in.
I get shaken when I think about the brave(?) guys who went down to see the Titanic in that vessel....just a cool walk in the park, eh?...1/100 of a second to realize something is very wrong...
Snow has killed far more people than ICE.
Where are the protests?
/s
**I can’t imagine living in the fear bubble that you must live in.**
Oh lay off, superman.
When I was young and single I did many dangerous things to get my thrills. But when I got married I cut back. And when I became a father I dropped dirt biking and aerobatics entirely.
To paraphrase Eric Clapton: dopamine is one heck of a natural drug
And pride can be an effective killer. Many mountains can bear silent testimony to that.
I like post #3.
When you have responsibilities to others you have to set priorities regardless of your wish to do things for your own self satisfaction.
What’s more important - a fun ski trip or being there to raise your children or fulfill other family responsibilities?
Not bad luck, poor planning, it was known for days in advance that a huge snow storm was coming in.
LOL, that post was directed at someone specific, and your self description is different from that person, so strange for you to get so hysterical and lash out about your young self.
But there were avalanche warnings two days before the snow came crashing down. Someone should have known.
One of the tenants of backcountry travel through an avalanche area is to expose as few people as possible a time to a hazard. The rule is to spread out and cross avalanche paths one at a time! It remains to be seen why they all got caught, especially with experienced guides.
I hadn't heard that one before but it makes sense. It reminds me of the warning to troops crossing a bridge on foot that they have to break step, so as not to set up a resonant wave that will topple the structure.
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