California ski resort reopens after first avalanche death of the season

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A California ski resort near Lake Tahoe reopened Thursday, a day after an avalanche roared down a steep section of the mountain, killing a 66-year-old skier in the first U.S. avalanche death of the winter.

Palisades Tahoe’s iconic KT-22 lift, which serves the area where the snowslide hit, was to remain closed while crews worked to clear a road to enable snowcats and snowmobiles to enter the section of mostly expert runs.

Other lifts were set to open later on what would be a “rigorous snow safety day,” the resort said in a statement. Lift openings at adjoining Alpine Meadows also were expected to be delayed to allow staff to assess all terrain.

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A storm had blanketed the area Wednesday when the avalanche hit around 9:30 a.m., sweeping up four people and killing one. The debris field spanned about 150 feet (46 meters) wide, 450 feet (137 meters) long and 10 feet (3 meters) deep, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said.

Palisades, the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, is on the western side of Lake Tahoe, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Reno, Nevada.

The sheriff’s office identified the person killed as Kenneth Kidd, 66, a resident of nearby Truckee and Point Reyes. One person suffered a lower leg injury and two others were treated for unspecified injuries and released, officials said.

The ski lift at Palisades Tahoe had to close when an avalanche struck on Jan. 10, 2024, in Tahoe, Calif. (AP Photo/Andy Barron)

The death was the first U.S. avalanche fatality of the season, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

The Sierra Avalanche Center’s forecast for the central Sierra backcountry predicted continuing dangerous avalanche conditions Thursday.

“New snow and high winds have loaded existing weak layers in our snowpack,” the forecast said.

The KT-22 lift opened for the first time this season just 30 minutes before the avalanche. The resort’s website said it received 1-3 inches (2.5-7.6 centimeters) of snow on Tuesday, and Wednesday was to begin with snow showers followed by heavy snow with strong gusts. The resort said 14 inches (35.5 centimeters) fell Wednesday.

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On Monday, the website had noted its plans to open KT-22 and another lift on Wednesday: “A lot of work goes into prepping these two lifts, even with the help of more than two feet (62 centimeters) of recent snowfall up top,” the post said. It characterized the existing snow as light in density.

Michael Gross, vice president of mountain operations, said before deeming an area safe to open, the team evaluates the conditions relying on their expertise and historical data.

“You know, we’ve got decades worth of weather data that we’re always resourcing or referencing, so looking at current forecasts, looking at all different models, looking at wind speed, snow density, wind direction,” Gross told reporters Wednesday. “There’s a variety of things that go into play and the people that are doing the work are truly experts in their field. Most of them have been working at it 10 to 20 years, some of them upwards of 50 years, just doing forecasting.”

An average of about 24 people have died annually in avalanches in the U.S. over the past decade, ranging from a low of 11 in 2014-15 to a high of 37 in 2021-22, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

A 2020 avalanche at Alpine Meadows killed one skier and seriously injured another a day after a major storm. Another avalanche at the resort in March 1982 killed seven people, including several employees.

Most avalanches happen during or soon after a big snowstorm, a period of strong winds or during a rapid increase in temperature, according to forecasters. They are possible any time snow is on a slope steeper than about 30 degrees and can be triggered by humans moving across the area, or more frequently by natural occurrences involving the weight of overhanging snow and or wind events.

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Among recent avalanches at ski resorts, the U.S. Forest Service said a skier triggered one in northern New Mexico in 2019 that led to his death and the death of another skier. The service found there was little the resort could have done to prevent it. The agency’s review concluded personnel at Taos Ski Valley complied with operating procedures, including detailed snow safety procedures that accompany each day’s decision on whether to open lifts and ski runs.

Most skiers or snowboarders are caught up in avalanches in the backcountry outside of actual ski resorts, where staff closely monitor conditions within their boundaries.

In fact, the Sierra Avalanche Center’s daily forecasts address only avalanche conditions for backcountry areas where no mitigation is conducted.

“Any avalanches that occur within ski area boundaries are outside of the scope of our work. For this reason, we have no comments on avalanches that occur within ski area boundaries,” Brandon Schwartz, the Sierra Avalanche Centers’ lead avalanche forecaster on the Tahoe National Forest, said in an email to The Associated Press.