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As you’re probably aware by now, on Wednesday, January 10, terror struck the slopes of Palisades Tahoe when an avalanche tore away from the mountainside beneath the iconic KT22 chair in the GS Gully area. Avalanches anywhere are terrifying, but on a resort, even more so as skiers and riders aren’t generally wearing avalanche safety gear. So if they’re caught in a slide, the difficulty in rescuing someone who’s buried is further amplified.
The slide below KT22 this week swept away four people, one of which was injured and the other one was sadly killed in the accident. It was the first inbounds avalanche death in the area since a skier died in 2020 at Alpine Meadows (there was a second, non-fatal avalanche reported on the Alpine Meadows side Thursday). As chance would have it, snowboarder Jeremy Jones, a regular on the KT22 lift, was there when the slide occurred. His son, Cass was one of the first on the scene and helped with the rescue. It was essentially a parent’s worst nightmare but Jones handled the situation with aplomb, as did his 15-year-old son. Jones posted on his Instagram page about the accident. I checked in with Jeremy about reposting his words. Because his account is as real as it gets:
“Yesterday was a heavy day at @palisadestahoe. In an instant we went from the highest of highs to lowest of lows.
My favorite lift in the world just opened and there was no line and the riding was epic. Of the few 100 people, I knew most of them. I was with my kid and life couldn’t have been better as we slashed, bashed and laughed our way back to an empty lift line.
On our second run we took a similar line. Half way down I went left around a terrain feature and @cassjonessnow went right toward our first-run tracks to rebate an air. When I got to the bottom he was not there even though he was in front of me. Ten seconds later I hear, ‘there was an avalanche, lift is closed.’
Nervously I called Cass concerned but not panicked considering I last saw him at the bottom of our line. He didn’t answer but instantly called back. He rode up to the avalanche as it was happening and was the first one on the scene. ‘There was an avi, I am helping a guy out who is hurt,’ he says. He stabilized the guy, gave him his gloves and jacket until patrol came and then helped probe.
Overcome with relief but still sick over reports of two people buried I helplessly waited to see if I could be of service. Miraculously one person was saved by a heroic effort by Tom Day and others who went to the last seen point of the buried snowboarder, got a probe strike and dug him out after a few minutes unharmed. Devastatingly the other buried person perished. Incredibly sobering that our first-run tracks were buried by a couple feet of avi debris. My heart bleeds for the friends and family of the deceased. Gratitude to the community effort on the rescue.”
