8 skiers killed in avalanche north of Lake Tahoe

Group set out despite dire forecast. Guide company comes under intense criticism.

- JACK DOLAN AND ANDREA FLORES

MEMBERS of a rescue team plow through snow. Six other skiers in the group were saved; one is missing.

On Sunday, as forecasters warned that the biggest winter storm of the season was headed for California’s High Sierra, a mountain guide company sent 15 people out for a risky backcountry skiing adventure on the slopes above Donner Pass.

‘The storm arrived as predicted and by Tuesday morning had dumped several feet of fresh, unstable snow. That’s when the group attempted a perilous escape from the remote Frog Lake huts in a blinding blizzard beneath towering, avalanche-prone slopes.

A couple of miles from safety, someone in the group — which included four guides — saw a wall of snow barreling down from above and yelled, “Avalanche!” according to Rusty Greene, operations captain for the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

In the deadliest avalanche in modern California history, eight of the skiers were killed. One remains unaccounted for and is presumed dead.

After receiving the initial distress call at 11:30 a.m., dozens of first responders battled through the blizzard on snowcats and skis — there are no roads into the remote site — to reach the six survivors around 5:30 Tuesday evening.

Two were hospitalized and are expected to recover.

The eight bodies were still on the mountain as of Wednesday morning because the continuing storm made removing them too risky, officials said.

Now that the emergency is over and the fates of most of the skiers is known, first responders, professional guides and countless commentators on social media are asking why a guide service — especially one that trains others in avalanche safety — would go ahead with the trip in the face of such daunting weather.