6 victims of Tahoe avalanche are ID’d by families ‘devastated beyond words’

Most of the victims of California’s deadliest avalanche in modern history were part of a tight-knit circle — a group of moms who lived across Northern California and in Idaho and liked to meet up for mountain adventures.

Six of the nine people who died in the avalanche north of Lake Tahoe on Tuesday were part of that group of close friends who had together planned the backcountry ski trip. The other three victims were hired guides who led the expedition.

The families of the women said in a statement that they were “devastated beyond words.”

“Our focus right now is supporting our children through this incredible tragedy and honoring the lives of these extraordinary women,” the statement said. “They were all mothers, wives and friends, all of whom connected through the love of the outdoors.”

Officials have located the remains of eight of the victims. The ninth individual remains unaccounted for but is presumed dead, according to authorities. Six people were rescued from where the group encountered an avalanche in the Castle Peak area.

Although the families have identified some of the deceased, officials have not yet released the names of those killed, and extreme weather in the area has continued to stymie efforts to retrieve their remains.

As information has slowly revealed more about the ski trip and those who died in the devastating avalanche, grief has shaken communities across the region.

“We are heartbroken and are doing our best to care for one another and our families in the way we know these women would have wanted,” the family said in the statement, which also requested privacy for their loved ones.

What we know about the avalanche victims

The eight women — six of whom died on the trip — were part of a group of 15 who were at the end of a three-day backcountry skiing trip to the Frog Lake huts when the avalanche occurred. The 15 included four paid guides from the Truckee-based company Blackbird Mountain Guides and 11 trip participants.

The six women who have been found or are presumed dead were identified by their families as Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt.

“They were passionate, skilled skiers who cherished time together in the mountains,” the statement from their families said. “They lived in the Bay Area, Idaho, and the Truckee–Tahoe region.”

A story from the New York Times identified Sekar, 45, of San Francisco, and Clabaugh, 52, of Boise, Idaho, as sisters.

Vett was identified by the Marin Independent Journal as a mother of two elementary-school-age children in Marin County. The superintendent of Kentfield School District, about 15 miles north of San Francisco, sent an email to families describing her as “a cherished part of our community,” the outlet reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear which of those women had ties to the Sugar Bowl Academy, a private ski and snowboard school and club in the Tahoe area. The school said it had members of its community who died in the avalanche.

“We are an incredibly close and connected community. This tragedy has affected each and every one of us,” Stephen McMahon, the executive director of the academy, said in a statement. “The best thing we can do is surround our athletes and families with care and support while providing the necessary space and time for grief and healing.”

Three of the four guides, all from the Blackbird Mountain Guides, were also among the dead.

The three guides were all trained or certified in backcountry skiing by the American Mountain Guides Assn. and were instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, according to a statement from Zeb Blais, founder of Blackbird Mountain Guides.

In addition to that training, their guides in the field “are in communication with senior guides at our base, to discuss conditions and routing based upon conditions,” Blais said in a statement. “There is still a lot that we’re learning about what happened. It’s too soon to draw conclusions, but investigations are underway.

“We ask that people following this tragedy refrain from speculating,” Blais wrote. “In the meantime, please keep those impacted in your hearts. … This was an enormous tragedy, and the saddest event our team has ever experienced.”

What we know about the trip

The backcountry ski trip to the Frog Lake huts is described by Blackbird Mountain Guides as a way to access “some of the best backcountry skiing terrain in North Lake Tahoe.” The trip can cost a skier around $1,500 depending on the timing of the journey. The huts are owned by the Truckee Donner Land Trust, which warns that the journey from the trailhead to the cabins takes several hours and passes through dangerous avalanche terrain.

The families of the six women who died said they still had many unanswered questions but that the women had planned the trip “well in advance” and were “experienced backcountry skiers who deeply respected the mountains.”

“They were trained and prepared for backcountry travel and trusted their professional guides on this trip,” the statement said. “They were fully equipped with avalanche safety equipment.”

On Sunday, as forecasters warned that the biggest winter storm of the season was headed for California’s High Sierra, the group set off on the expedition 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 its perilous journey back to civilization, in a blinding blizzard beneath towering, avalanche-prone slopes.

But just as they were a couple of miles from safety, someone in the group saw a wall of snow — estimated to be the size of a football field — barreling toward them. Someone yelled, “Avalanche!” according to Rusty Greene, operations captain for the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office.

Officials received a distress call around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, setting off a challenging rescue operation in treacherous, remote, freezing conditions, eventually reaching the six survivors around 5:30 p.m.

What we know about those found alive

The six found alive — four men and two women — ranged in age from 30 to 55, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

One of the four guides on the expedition survived, as did two women who were among the friend group that booked the trip.

Times staff writer Jack Dolan contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.