Backcountry Tahoe Avalanche today

[Amie H]

A friend alerted me to this story of 10 skiers missing in a Tahoe backcountry avalanche today. Prayers up that everyone and rescuers are safe.

Six skiers rescued after Tahoe avalanche; 9 still missing

Rescuers battled "highly dangerous" weather conditions. Nine people still missing.

www.sfgate.com

 

[santacruz skier]

A friend alerted me to this story of 10 skiers missing in a Tahoe backcountry avalanche today. Prayers up that everyone and rescuers are safe.

Six skiers rescued after Tahoe avalanche; 9 still missing

Rescuers battled "highly dangerous" weather conditions. Nine people still missing.

www.sfgate.com

Yes it’s all over the news here. Terrible. Heavy unstable snow. And the 6 out of 16 can’t even get rescued yet but are in communication with rescue teams. The other 10 are unaccounted for. What were those guides thinking? Not to mention how dangerous it is for the rescue teams.

 

[VickiK]

+1, @santacruz skier , I wonder the same thing.

 

[santacruz skier]

+1, @santacruz skier , I wonder the same thing.

Breaking news from SF Chronicle. The rescuers have reached the 6 backcountry skiers.

 

[HuntersEmma57]

Heartbreaking doesn't come close to describing this one.

Powder fever is extraordinarily high after such a crap season here in the West. I think what surprised me most is having so many skiers and guides in one pack.

I mentioned in another post that there was an avi charge dropped for massive drifting off the BLUE slope not far from the top of the main lift yesterday at Powder Mtn. I woke up thinking about the Tahoe tragedy and got anxious about storm skiing today inbounds. Beacon is charged.

Deep appreciation respects for rescuers and my heart goes out for the skiers, guides, and their families and friends.

 

[Amie H]

Sadly, they have found 8 dead.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/18/us/lake-tahoe-avalanche-missing-skiers

 

[santacruz skier]

This is heartbreaking news.

 

[Beckster]

Absolutely Brutal!!
Vallais and Berner Oberland here in Switzerland are at level 4+ after getting a massive wet dump of snow.
Commuter Train was hit by an avalanche near the Gopenstein tunnel. Luckily only 1 person was hospitalized.
Last month a friend of my husband died in an avalanche in that same valley.
Currently I have a group of friends on a planned heute route adventure right and I have been feeling so anxious. I know, however, how cautious their guide is and he has radically altered their planned routes. But still.

 

[elemmac]

Vallais and Berner Oberland here in Switzerland are at level 4+ after getting a massive wet dump of snow.

What is the go-to source for avalanche forecasting over there? I'm mainly interested in following the Berner Oberland area...I'll be there mid-March. So, hearing this, I'd like to get at least a few weeks of following the snowpack and some insight on its stability.

 

[Beckster]

What is the go-to source for avalanche forecasting over there? I'm mainly interested in following the Berner Oberland area...I'll be there mid-March. So, hearing this, I'd like to get at least a few weeks of following the snowpack and some insight on its stability.

How exciting? Where exactly will you be skiing in the Berner Oberland? I live in that Region.
I mostly backcountry ski and my Ski club members generally refer to an app called White Risk for detailed reports. Or my go to weather app is Swiss Meteo which I have set to show Avalanche levels.

 

[elemmac]

How exciting? Where exactly will you be skiing in the Berner Oberland? I live in that Region.

I'll be in Wengen for about a week, skiing (or maybe snowboarding...still undecided which I'm going to bring lol). We'll be mostly on resort but tend to venture off-piste in low-risk scenarios, and/or with a guide.

 

[skivet]

I read 9 were women, 6 men. So heartbreaking.

 

[santacruz skier]

I'll be in Wengen for about a week, skiing (or maybe snowboarding...still undecided which I'm going to bring lol). We'll be mostly on resort but tend to venture off-piste in low-risk scenarios, and/or with a guide.

I spent a week skiing in Wengen about 8 years ago. We even skied the famous Lauberhorn (sp?) Check out the jungfrau… also skied to Grindenwald.

 

[santacruz skier]

I read 9 were women, 6 men. So heartbreaking.

Were any of the survivors guides? I’m sure I’ll hear more on the news. We’ve hiked around Castle Peak. It’s popular in summer as well. So tragic.

 

[Christy]

Holy &$#!. 8 dead. Staggering.

 

[santacruz skier]

One of the six survivors was a male guide. Still one person missing.

 

[SnowHot]

Powder fever is extraordinarily high after such a crap season here in the West.

This wasn't as simple as powder fever this time around.
This was an annual trip that the Sugar Bowl Team Moms took every year, and was preplanned prior to the snow forecast.
The sad news is several moms have perished and one woman is the wife of one of the rescuers.

8 dead in Tahoe avalanche; victims include moms of Sugar Bowl youth team skiers

This was in another news clip.

Before the deadly Castle Peak avalanche yesterday during a Blackbird Mountain Guides expedition turned tragic which killed a confirmed eight people and probably nine, the 1982 avalanche in Alpine Meadows, in which seven people died near the ski resort, was the deadliest in California history.
Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo says one of the people who died yesterday was the spouse of a member of the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team.
There were six survivors.
The group of 15 included four guides.

 

[santacruz skier]

This wasn't as simple as powder fever this time around.
This was an annual trip that the Sugar Bowl Team Moms took every year, and was preplanned prior to the snow forecast.
The sad news is several moms have perished and one woman is the wife of one of the rescuers.

8 dead in Tahoe avalanche; victims include moms of Sugar Bowl youth team skiers

This was in another news clip.

Before the deadly Castle Peak avalanche yesterday during a Blackbird Mountain Guides expedition turned tragic which killed a confirmed eight people and probably nine, the 1982 avalanche in Alpine Meadows, in which seven people died near the ski resort, was the deadliest in California history.
Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo says one of the people who died yesterday was the spouse of a member of the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team.
There were six survivors.
The group of 15 included four guides.

I know... Also saw on local news here (Santa Cruz) that there was one guide out of the six survivors. It's so tragic and also heard the moms had kids on the Sugar Bowl youth ski team. My heart goes out to the families and the courageous search and rescue teams that went out in terrifying unsafe conditions to conduct the rescue. It is satisfying to know that the SOS function on a smart phone works.

 

[SnowHot]

Alpenglow Sports on Instagram: "There are moments when words feel painfully inadequate — and today is one of those moments. Our mountain community is carrying a profound sorrow, and many of us are still searching for language large enough to hold wha

8,315 likes, 418 comments - alpenglowsports on February 18, 2026: "There are moments when words feel painfully inadequate — and today is one of those moments. Our mountain community is carrying a profound sorrow, and many of us are still searching for language large enough to hold what we are...

www.instagram.com

 

[Amie H]

I read this morning that it was a group of moms and I was a little bit shocked, to be honest. Sending prayers to all of their families and the community.