Palisades Tahoe. Photo: Ryan Salm
With the famed KT22 lift at Palisades Tahoe opening for the season, an avalanche was reported there this morning and a rescue search is under way. The slide was above the GS Gully area off KT22.
“Cal Fire is also moving resources and personnel to help with possible rescue efforts, the California governor’s office stated,” according to CBS News Sacramento. “The Placer County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed that they were responding to reports of an avalanche at the resort.”
One Twitter user (below) relayed a report of a fatality from the local radio scanner. The San Francisco Chronicle also reported confirmation that at least one male skier died in the slide and at least three more were injured. Michael Gross, vice president of Mountain Operations at Palisades, told local media that two of the people were caught in the slide but ultimately removed. The two others were buried in the snow, one of which was the man who died.
12:09:54: “@palisadestahoe
Patrol has concluded their search. All skiers on the hill have been accounted for. One with a leg injury and one 1144 (possible fatality).” https://t.co/6uToimbA6H…@palisadestahoe@palisadesops#KT22 #palisades #avalanche #squawvalley@palisades— David Wiener (@WienerTweet) January 10, 2024
Palisades Tahoe released this statement on its social media accounts: “At approximately 9:30am today at Palisades Tahoe, an avalanche occurred on the Palisades side, specifically above the GS gully area of KT-22. Our Patrol and mountain operations teams are performing a search at this time. Both sides of our mountain will be closed for the day.”
A skier was killed in an avalanche at Alpine Meadows in 2020. There is currently a documentary running on Netflix about the 1982 avalanche that killed seven.The resort had received 21 inches of snow over the last seven days. The resort had apparently been performing avalanche assessments since the weekend.
We will continue to update this post as more info becomes available.
Editor’s Note: This report was updated at 3:07 PST.
BREAKING: Search and rescue efforts are in effect due to an avalanche at Palisades Tahoe in Lake Tahoe.
Eyewitnesses say multiple people were buried in the slide. We’ll continue to add updates as more information comes in. pic.twitter.com/S4jQplV25p
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) January 10, 2024
