A tragic discovery was made in Lake Tahoe after a skier, reported missing on Wednesday night, was found deceased. This heartbreaking event unfolded just days following an avalanche that claimed the lives of eight mothers.
Colin Kang, a 21-year-old from Fremont, California, had embarked on a skiing adventure during his break from Northstar California Resort in Truckee. He was last seen around noon on Tuesday near the Martis Camp Express, a ski lift that provides access to the challenging Sugar Pine Glade trail, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a potential missing person case late Wednesday evening, around 11 PM. Upon investigation, deputies discovered Kang’s vehicle parked at Northstar, indicating he had gone skiing but had not returned as anticipated.
The search for Kang commenced early Thursday morning with a coordinated effort involving the sheriff’s office, the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team, and Northstar ski patrollers. The operation was comprehensive, deploying 15 skiers, a snowcat, and two snowmobiles to comb the area.
Sadly, the search concluded with the discovery of Kang on the advanced Sugar Pine Glade trail around 9 AM, bringing a somber end to the search effort.
Together, they were able to find Kang at around 9am on the advanced Sugar Pine Glade trail.
‘We are heartbroken by this loss,’ Tara Schoedinger, general manager of Northstar said in a statement.
‘Our deepest sympathies are with his family and loved ones and with the team members who had the privilege of working alongside him.’
Colin Kang, 21, of Fremont, California, was found dead on an expert-level ski trail Thursday morning
Kang went skiing on his break at Northstar California Resort in Truckee (pictured) on Tuesday, and was reported missing at around 11pm on Wednesday
Kang’s death marks the third at the resort just this month as the area gets inundated with heavy storms.
Stuart McLaughlin, 53, of Hillsborough, California, was also killed at the resort on Sunday morning, and Nicholas Kenworth, 26, of Los Angeles, died after an accident on Northstar’s Martis trail, another expert-level run, on February 12.
Meanwhile, rescue workers have been unable to reach the bodies of eight skiers who were buried by an avalanche on Castle Peak mountain, about 20 miles away, amid treacherous conditions, which were expected to continue at least through Thursday.
A ninth member of that group was also still missing as of Thursday, and was presumed dead.
Six others were rescued hours after the avalanche hit on Tuesday morning as they were concluding a three-day ski tour organized by Blackbird Mountain Guides.
Authorities have said the skiers had little time to react.
‘Someone saw the avalanche, yelled “Avalanche!” and it overtook them rather quickly,’ said Captain Russell ‘Rusty’ Greene, of the Nevada County sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office is now looking into the group’s decision to proceed with the trip on Sunday despite the forecast of a massive incoming storm.
Kang was found dead on the advanced Sugar Pine Glade trail. Another expert-only trail at Palisades Tahoe ski resort is pictured
Fifteen skiers led by Blackbird Mountain Guides were on Castle Peak late Tuesday morning when they were hit by a slide and a huge storm dumping heavy snow
That morning at 6.49am, the Sierra Avalanche Center issued an avalanche watch, indicating that large avalanches were likely in the next 24 to 48 hours.
The watch was elevated to a warning by 5am Tuesday, indicating that avalanches were expected. It is not clear whether the guides knew about the change before they began their return trek.
Blackbird Mountain Guides also said in a statement Wednesday night that it has launched an investigation and paused field operations at least through the weekend, while prioritizing support for the victims’ families.
The company guides who led the group were trained or certified in backcountry skiing and were also instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.
While in the field, they ‘are in communication with senior guides at our base, to discuss conditions and routing based upon conditions,’ Blackbird Mountain Guides founder Zeb Blais said in the statement.
‘We don’t have all the answers yet, and it may be some time before we do,’ the company said. ‘In the meantime, please keep those impacted in your hearts.’
Sisters Caroline Sekar, 45, of San Francisco, and Liz Clabaugh, 52, of Boise, Idaho were among those killed in the rockslide
Kate Vitt, the Vice President of Product Operations and Customer Success at SiriusXM, was also killed in the avalanche
Among those that were killed in the deadly rockslide were sisters Caroline Sekar, 45, of San Francisco, and Liz Clabaugh, 52, of Boise, Idaho.
‘They were incredible sisters, mothers, wives and friends,’ their brother, McAlister Clabaugh told The New York Times.
‘And the idea that they are both gone is, I don’t even know how to put it into words.’
McAlister went on to explain that many in the ski group had been friends since they attended Stanford University together, and would meet up regularly over the years for ski trips.
‘A lot of the people on that trip were Caroline’s friends who used to do this together,’ he said. ‘There’s a whole community of people, a lot of whom just lost their lives.’
Daily Mail also exclusively revealed that another victim of the avalanche was SiriusXM executive and mother-of-two Kate Vitt, 43, a Boston College alumnus.
It is unclear whether Vitt or the sisters were connected to the Sugar Bowl Academy, a private, ski-focused school that said Wednesday that multiple victims had ties to its community in Norden, California, just miles from where the avalanche occurred.
Sugar Bowl families go on an annual trip to the slopes together, which is organized by the parents and not affiliated with the school, a close source told the San Francisco Chronicle.
In this instance, the fathers are believed to have skied together on one excursion, and their wives went off on another.
Some of the victims of the tragic California avalanche were a group of mothers whose children attended the elite Sugar Bowl Academy ski school in the Lake Tahoe community
A Sugar Bowl alum has claimed the tragedy had nothing to do with the victims’ skiing abilities.
‘I am pretty surprised that there were people out there backcountry skiing, but I don’t think it’s a matter of anybody’s skill,’ Alex Alvarez, who attended the academy during her junior year of high school, told CBS News.
‘I think it’s more Mother Nature saying, “Hey, this is a bad time.”‘
Alvarez added that the scale of devastation, which saw nine people killed, is ‘really unexpected’ in the Lake Tahoe area.
‘We get big avalanches, but it’s usually just one or two people,’ she said.
