Avalanche
In a span of just over a day, Palisades Tahoe, California, was struck by two significant avalanches. The first avalanche occurred beneath the KT-22 chairlift, a popular area known for its expert-level slopes. This tragic event led to the death of Kenneth Kidd, a 66-year-old resident of the Point Reyes and Truckee areas, and left three others injured.
The resort, which was briefly closed following the first avalanche, reopened the next day when a second avalanche hit around 12:30 p.m. near Wolverine Bowl on the Alpine side of the resort. This time, there were no casualties or injuries reported. Dozens of patrollers and volunteers created a probe line to search the debris field for anyone who may have been buried. After searches were complete, the Summit Express lift reopened.
Patrol members had conducted avalanche mitigation work in the area prior to opening, “including shots from a 105mm howitzer and ski cutting through the area,” according to a resort spokesperson.
The resort has seen 14″ of fresh snow in the last 48 hours and 34″ in the last week.
Avalanche risk across the Sierra Nevada is currently rated as ‘considerable’.
“Dangerous avalanche conditions will continue today. New snow and high winds have loaded existing weak layers in our snowpack. Large avalanches are the main concern today failing well below our recent storm snow. High winds will also continue to create slabs of wind blown snow in exposed areas. Cautious route finding with large safety margins will be required to help avoid todays avalanche problems.”
– Thursday’s avalanche forecast from Sierra Avalanche Center
