Crews have now recovered all nine bodies of those that were killed in an avalanche in Northern California. The search was five days long which according to authorities it was very agonizing due to intense winter storms. The county Sheriff Shannon Moon wished they could have saved all the victims but was glad they were able to bring them home.
Until this last Saturday authorities had not confirmed the death of the ninth person who was a skier presumed dead. Their body was found near the 8 other victims and they have all been recovered. For most of the week the weather conditions were too dangerous to search for the remaining victims in.
Four of the nine bodies were found on Friday, and the rest were found on Saturday in the Castle Peak area where the avalanche struck which was one of the deadliest in California’s history. The day of the disaster six people from a group of 15 skiers survived on their last day of their three day trip. Five of them were travelers and one of them was a guide.
The California National Guard used helicopters to hoist the remaining bodies from the mountain. On Friday officials were able to use specialized techniques to help reduce avalanche risk. The Sierra Avalanche Center classified the avalanche between a D2 and D3 on the danger scale. The area will be closed to visitors for several weeks.
Source:https://www.npr.org/2026/02/21/nx-s1-5722357/skiers-recovered-identified-california-avalanche-tahoe
