Tragedy struck again in the Lake Tahoe area on Friday as two more skiers lost their lives, just days after an avalanche claimed the lives of at least eight people on a ski excursion.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office reported that deputies were called to Heavenly Mountain Resort, which straddles the California-Nevada border, at 11:55 a.m. to investigate “two separate fatal ski incidents.”
Authorities confirmed that both incidents took place at the Boulder Lodge on the Nevada side of the resort, although they were not connected.
In the first incident, a 33-year-old man was involved in an accident on the intermediate Orion trail. According to a resort spokesperson, ski patrol responded promptly to the emergency, as reported by South Tahoe Now.
The second incident involved a 58-year-old man who suffered a “serious medical event” on the Tamarack Return trail, as reported by CBS News. Ski patrol responded quickly to the situation.
Despite the best efforts of ski patrol members and paramedics, both men were pronounced dead at the scene. Their identities have not yet been released.
The deaths come after a Tuesday avalanche killed eight skiers, six tourists and two guides, on a backcountry trip near Castle Peak in California’s Nevada County.
Another one of the guides with the party is missing but presumed dead, while six others survived, ranging in age from 30 to 55 years old.
Pictured: A skier on a mogul-filled slope at Heavenly Mountain, where two skiers died on Friday
Biotech executive Kate Morse, 45, was one of the six mothers killed in the California avalanche on Tuesday. She is survived by her husband Eric, their two daughters and son (seen together)
Carrie Atkin, 46, ran a leadership coaching business and had a storied career in the Bay Area before she and her husband moved their family to the Sierra Nevada mountains to live out their ‘dream life’ before she was killed in the avalanche that also claimed at least seven more lives
The six women who died in the avalanche were identified as Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt in a statement from their families.
All six were wives, mothers and close friends who were experienced backcountry skiers and knew how to navigate the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada mountains, their relatives said in the joint statement.
The six ‘extraordinary women’ lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, Idaho and near Lake Tahoe. The mothers had ‘connected through the love of the outdoors,’ the statement said.
Atkin, 46, ran a leadership coaching business and had a storied career in the Bay Area before she and her husband moved their family to the Sierra Nevada mountains to live out their ‘dream life.’
Morse, 45, was a mother to two daughters and one son, and most recently served as vice president of commercial strategy at Septerna, a Bay Area-based biotechnology company.
Keatley, 44, also lived in the Bay Area and ran a natural winemaking business alongside her husband Dave, whom she first met a vineyard in Napa.
‘We are devastated beyond words,’ their families said in the statement. ‘Our focus right now is supporting our children through this incredible tragedy and honoring the lives of these extraordinary women.
The women were on a trip with 15 other skiers, including two of their friends. Those friends made it out of the avalanche alive and were rescued along with four others, including the only-surviving guide.
Caroline Sekar, 45, was a mother of two who lived in San Francisco
Sekar’s sister Liz Clabaugh, 52, was also killed in the deadly avalanche
Kate Vitt was the Vice President of Product Operations and Customer Success at SiriusXM
SiriusXM executive and mother-of-two Kate Vitt, 43, was the first avalanche victim to be named. A neighbors said she was ‘lovely’ and had ‘verve and zest for life.’
Sekar, 45, and Clabaugh, 52, were sisters. Sekar was a mother of two who lived in San Francisco and Clabaugh worked for St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, Idaho, according to her LinkedIn page.
The 15 skiers began their three-day trip on Sunday just as warnings about the storm were intensifying. They spent the weekend staying along Frog Lake in high country huts accessible only by challenging trails.
The Sierra Avalanche Center had issued an avalanche watch Sunday morning, the first day of the trip, indicating a high risk of large avalanches. The tour company’s website says the trek was intended for intermediate to expert skiers.
The four guides were employed by Blackbird Mountain Guides, which offers mountaineering and backcountry ski trips as well as safety courses.
Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement that it launched an investigation and was mourning the loss of three of its guides.
The guides with the group were trained or certified in backcountry skiing, and were instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.
What the guides and their tour company knew about the warnings and risks from a powerful winter storm that blasted the mountains during the trip and why they pressed on is now part of investigations.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said authorities will investigate why the guides proceeded with the tour despite the forecast.
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, a state agency that regulates workplace safety, is also investigating to determine if the company violated California law.
