An unknown number of back-country skiers are missing after an avalanche hit Tuesday morning in the Castle Peak area near Donner Pass, as some parts of the Sierra experience their harshest winter conditions in three years.

The Bay Area obviously remains pretty stormy today, and as it does every winter, that means very treacherous winter storm conditions up near Donner Pass. So treacherous, in fact, that KTVU is reporting that the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab said parts of the Sierras are “being hit with the worst winter conditions in three years, with more than five feet of snow expected in a matter of days.” So that’s alarming enough, but much more seriously, that same KTVU report informs us that an unknown number of back country skiers are missing after an avalanche that hit at about 11:30 am Tuesday morning.

At this point, we don’t know much more than what was communicated above by the Nevada County (California) sheriff’s department. “The Nevada County Sheriff's Office along with our Nevada County Sheriff's Search & Rescue team and allied agencies, are responding to a report of an avalanche in the Castle Peak area that occurred at approximately 11:30 am today,” that department posted to Facebook just after noon Tuesday. “It has been reported that a group of back country skiers was involved in the incident, with several members of the party missing at this time.”

Search and rescue teams from the Nevada County Sheriff's Office have been deployed. The problem is, they don't know how many potential injured or affected victims they are looking for, and they’ve a pretty wide area to cover. To reiterate, the only information they have is that "a group of back country skiers” was potentially caught up in the avalanche,” and that “several members” of that ski party are currently missing.

If you’re not familiar, Castle Peak is on the California side of the California-Nevada border along I-80 near the Donner Summit and Truckee. It’s about two miles north of the popular resort Boreal, and one of the more popular back-country ski spots in the region.  

That area was already under an avalanche warning when the suspected avalanche hit Tuesday morning, and that avalanche warning is expected to remain in effect through Wednesday morning at 4 am.

Related: Storm Impacting Bay Area Roads; Chain Controls In Effect on I-80 In Tahoe Area [SFist]

Image: Nevada County Sheriff's Search & Rescue via Facebook

The snow finally arrived in time for Christmas for powder-staved Tahoe skiers, but with that snow came some very treacherous driving conditions, and an avalanche that hospitalized two Mammoth Mountain ski patrollers.

We’ve mentioned that there has been very little snow at Tahoe ski resorts this year, so little that the ski resort Sugar Bowl did not even open until today, December 26, the day after Christmas. But after this week’s Christmas storms that rollicked northern California, the Chronicle reports that Tahoe ski resorts got three to five feet of fresh snow powder over this week's holiday, and the resorts are readying for a huge after-Christmas weekend.  

But there is a flip side to this badly needed snow arriving all at once. SFGate reports that driving conditions on I-80 near Donner Pass are incredibly dangerous, while KRON4 notes that two ski patrollers at Mammoth Mountain were hospitalized after being caught in an avalanche Friday morning.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mammoth Mountain (@mammothmountain)

“At approximately 7:30AM (prior to Ski Area operations) on Friday, December 26, Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol was performing avalanche mitigation work when an avalanche occurred on Lincoln Mountain,” that Mono County resort wrote in a Friday Instagram post. “Two Patrollers were caught in the slide and were immediately transported to Mammoth Hospital. One patroller sustained serious injuries and is being transported out of the area for further care, the second patroller is being evaluated with possible broken bones.”

The resort was closed for the remainder of Friday, though anticipates reopening Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, the weather conditions were so bad on Donner’s Pass that on Christmas Eve, drivers were being turned away. Drivers can now drive through Donner Pass, though as of 3:50 pm Friday afternoon, the California Department of Transportation says that “Chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on all 4 wheels from Kingvale (Placer County) to Truckee (Nevada County).”

Related: Mammoth Mountain Opens Ski Season, But Heavenly, Boreal, and Northstar Just Delayed Their Openings [SFist]

Image: Sugar Bowl Resort via Facebook

Mammoth Mountain opened its ski resort today, and Mount Rose opens Friday, but a slew of Tahoe ski resorts have pushed back their openings indefinitely because there’s just not enough snow at the moment.

As of today, it is officially ski season somewhere in California. We have our first reported ski resort opening of the 2025-26 skiing and snowboarding season, and while that is cause for celebration for fresh powder fans statewide, the down side is that a number of Northern California's favorite resorts are delaying their openings indefinitely because the autumn was so warm and they just don’t have enough snow.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mammoth Mountain (@mammothmountain)

First, the good news. The Mammoth Lakes ski resort Mammoth Mountain opened Thursday, and they’ve been at it since this morning as seen above. Of course, Mammoth Mountain is at a uniquely high altitude, and they’ve been able to open early and operate well into the summer in many years. The flip side, of course, is that Mammoth Mountain is much further away from SF than the Tahoe-area ski resorts, and is a 350-mile drive from here that take you nearly eight hours to get there.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe (@mtroseskitahoe)

Closer to home, Reno’s Mount Rose ski resort will officially become the Lake Tahoe area's first resort to open when they open for business tomorrow morning, Friday, November 21, at 9 am.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Heavenly Mountain Resort (@skiheavenly)

But the other Tahoe ski resorts are not as lucky. The Chronicle reports that both Heavenly and Northstar have delayed their openings, and are not even giving timelines right now on when they may open. These openings are delayed by recent warm temperatures and relatively low snowfall.

“We still need a little more time to get you skiing and riding, but our teams and snowmakers are working around the clock to officially get this party started soon - just not on time this Friday,” Heavenly’s official Instagram account said in a Wednesday post.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Boreal Mountain California (@borealmtn)

Same goes for Boreal Mountain, which had intended to open today, but that ain’t happening. “We’re pushing back Opening Day due to warm temps and limited snowfall,” the resort says on its website. “Our snowmaking team is working around the clock when conditions allow. A new Opening Day is TBD — but we’re close!”

Let’s take a look at the current scheduled opening dates are for all of the top NorCal and Tahoe ski resorts. Though realize these dates can be subject to change (and the resort can shut down on you if there’s a blizzard):

• Mammoth Mountain - Thursday, November 20
• Mount Rose - Friday, November 21
• Palisades Tahoe - Wednesday, November 26
• Sugar Bowl - Friday, November 28
• Diamond Peak - Thursday, December 4
• Kirkwood - Friday, December 5
• Boreal - Currently delayed
• Heavenly - Currently delayed
• Northstar - Currently delayed

Related: The First Tahoe Ski Resort Is Open, and the Rest Have Announced Their (Approximate) Opening Dates [SFist]

Image: Cody Mathison, Mammoth Mountain

Before the ice rink at the Tahoe ski resort Heavenly had even opened to the public, a well-known local bear named Charlie decided to test the ice out for himself, and no one was going to tell him he had to leave.

San Francisco opened its outdoor holiday ice rink last week, as so many communities do this time of year. Though for this story, we will draw your attention to the outdoor ice rink at the Tahoe ski resort Heavenly, or rather, their open-air collection of stores and restaurants known as the Shops at Heavenly Village, located at the California-Nevada border. That destination opened their outdoor ice rink this past Thursday.

But the first visitor the ice rink hosted was very unauthorized, and probably didn’t even pay. KRON4 reports that a black bear hogged the ice rink all to himself. The bear is a male black bear known to locals as “Charlie,” and is known to stroll around the ski resort and local communities.  

“We just opened the ice rink today,” the Shops at Heavenly Village spokesperson Dreu Murin told KRON4. “He was the first one who took to the ice this year.”

Speaking to the Reno Gazette Journal, Murin said of Charlie that "He has become somewhat of a local celebrity, often wandering through the village at night or early mornings on a stroll." He added, "I guess he wanted to try it out."

Charlie apparently spent all of ten minutes on the ice, and we will say, he observed the posted rules of “No shoes on ice!” and “Do not carry children on skates. And as always, the Shops at Heavenly Village stressed the more important rule that you should not feed or interact with Charlie, or any other bears.

The Shops at Heavenly Village’s ice rink and other attractions are currently open, while the ski resort Heavenly opens for skiing and snowboarding on Friday, November 21.

Related: Black Bear Commandeers Tahoe Ice Cream Shop, Woofs Down Strawberry Ice Cream [SFist]

Image: Visit Heavenly Village Lake Tahoe via Facebook

Just one day after the Mayor of South Lake Tahoe admitted to embezzling money from a church, we learn that the city’s second highest-ranking elected official was arrested for assaulting an employee at a bar he had been 86’d from.

There was nothing funny about the news that broke Monday that the Mayor of South Lake Tahoe had admitted to embezzling money from Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church, as Mayor Tamara Wallace also revealed that she had attempted suicide last month. But not even 24 hours after that revelation, we are now learning of another scandal among the highest-ranking South Lake Tahoe elected officials, and everything about this one is pretty funny.

The Chronicle reports that South Lake Tahoe Mayor Pro Tem Cody Bass was arrested for assault, trespassing, and harassment at a local bar from which he had previously been 86’ed. The incident apparently happened at 1 am back on September 25, though we are just learning of it now, as the Douglas County Sheriff and District Attorney offices just released a joint statement acknowledging the arrest.

And we should note that the DA dropped the assault charge, though Bass still faces the misdemeanor trespassing and harassment charges. His court date for these charges is December 22.  

If you’re wondering, a “mayor pro tem” is an elected city councilmember who is generally the second-in-command for the mayor, and fills in when the mayor is unavailable. (So he may have been acting Mayor during the time that current Mayor Wallace said she “spent 18 days in a mental health facility” after her attempt on her own life.) Parenthetically, Bass also owns a Tahoe cannabis dispensary.

The local publication South Tahoe Now has more details of the September arrest. Bass had reportedly been banned from the bar Lake Tahoe AleWorx in Stateline, Nevada (South Lake Tahoe is geographically in California, though it's right at the border, and Stateline is the connected city on the Nevada side.) He approached an employee outside the bar, which escalated into an argument, with Bass allegedly telling the employee “he was going to have people kill him.”

Bass reportedly walked away, but returned 20 minutes later. Bass then allegedly cocked his arm at the employee as if he were about to throw a punch, and the employee kicked him to get away. Bass called the sheriff’s office, who arrived at the scene and reviewed security video, and they decided that Bass was the one who deserved to be arrested.

He made his $1,978 bail and was released from custody after about three hours in jail.

Just this afternoon, Bass took to Facebook to give his side of the story.

“On the evening in question, I was assaulted for the second time by the doorman at Aleworx on the sidewalk in front of AleWorx while I was walking to Lucky Beaver to get some food,” Bass wrote. “I reported the assault to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Despite my testimony, the deputy chose to place me under a citizen's arrest, accepting the doorman's account over mine.”

He adds, “I have not entered AleWorx in a considerable amount of time and was never asked to not return.”

And defiantly, Bass said, “I will absolutely not be stepping down from my position on the City Council, as I have done nothing wrong. I am committed to going through the due process to prove my innocence."

For the second day in a row, City of South Lake Tahoe public information officer Sheree Juarez was forced to make a very awkward statement about an embarrassing scandal involving top City Hall officials.

“The City is aware of the arrest of Mayor Pro Tem Bass,” Juarez said in a statement picked up by the Chronicle. “This matter is being handled by [the] Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. It is our understanding that Mayor Pro Tem is being charged with a misdemeanor in Douglas County. We have no further comment at this time.”

Sacramento's KOVR reports that Bass was arrested on DUI charges in 2021, with officers saying they saw a “white powder resembling cocaine” and a “crystalline substance resembling methamphetamine.” He ended up getting just misdemeanor charges, and voters still saw fit to re-elect him to City Council the following year.

And the charges in this case are all misdemeanors, so Bass is not required to step down from office. Whereas in Mayor Wallace’s embezzlement case, she has not yet been charged, though that feels pretty likely if the story is as she described.

So the end result of these dual scandals may be that Cody Bass gets installed as South Lake Mayor after his trespassing and harassment charges, because of the embezzlement charges against Mayor Wallace.

Related: South Lake Tahoe Mayor Admits to Embezzling Money From Church, Recent Suicide Attempt [SFist]

Image: City of South Lake Tahoe

A bear nicknamed “Hope” is slated for euthanization after a reported dozen incursions into people’s homes in just the last three months, but Tahoe bear activists are fighting back, while concerned about what will happen with Hope’s young cub.

In this summer’s exploits of bears breaking into human habitats for food, there have been some scary incidents. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) had to euthanize a bear in late June after its attacks hospitalized one person and harassed several other campers at Eagle Point Campground. Then in late August, a bear known as “bear 753” nearly caused a house to burn down when it broke in and somehow left the gas stovetops on full blast.  

“The female bear carries the yellow ear tag numbered 753 and is well-known to CDFW and the local community,” the CDFW said in a warning. “This particular bear has a long history of home invasions and escalating conflict behavior in South Lake Tahoe dating to 2022.  Since July 20, 2025, DNA evidence has linked this bear to at least 12 home incursions in South Lake Tahoe of both occupied and unoccupied homes.”

As bear 753’s break-ins have continued to rack up, the CDFW has decided to euthanize the bear, according to KPIX. But a group called Bear League, who took these photos and videos of this bear they call Hope and her cub named Bounce, is putting up a fight to save the bear that’s slated to be killed.

KPIX has confirmed that the state agency has decided to euthanize the bear. "CDFW had determined that the bear is 'habituated' – meaning it has learned to associate people, homes and neighborhoods as sources of food and has become completely reliant and dependent on those human food sources,” the agency said in a statement to KPIX. “Consequently, CDFW has determined that management action is required, and bear 753 has been approved for lethal removal.”

The CDFW adds that "This sow and now its dependent cub have repeatedly broken into homes, including occupied homes and including situations that were no fault of the property owners. Obviously, this creates an unsafe situation when an adult bear is actively looking to break into homes and other buildings.”

The CDFW insists they are not setting traps for these bears. But as seen above, the folks at Bear League disagree, and claim they’ve seen the traps.

"I cry regularly about it. It's awful they think the only thing they can do is kill the bear," Bear League volunteer team leader Kathi Zollinger tells KPIX. "She's not the only one doing this. There are six moms in the area we are aware of. What are they going to do? Kill them all? That is ridiculous."

And obviously, people are very concerned as to what would become of that little cub Bounce if their mother was to be killed.

"The cub will be evaluated if and when we are able to catch it,” the CDFW told KPIX. “Our goal was to get the cub into a permitted wildlife rehabilitation facility – to break this generational pattern of human conflict and home invasions – and return it to the wild in the spring when it is big enough and old enough to care for itself.”

The folks at the Bear League dispute that these incidents are break-ins and maintain that people are simply being too careless about locking doors, closing windows, and managing their trash. The Bear League also encourages people to wire their homes with systems that provide the bears with a shock when they encroach, though it’s hard to imagine that would be widely adopted given the cost.

So Tahoe residents are encouraged to lock up their houses securely, keep their trash inaccessible to wildlife, and clear fruit from their yards as frequently as possible. But as far as the fate of “bear 753” Hope and her cub Bounce, that may not be enough, now that she’s on a state agency’s “hit list.”

Related: Black Bear Commandeers Tahoe Ice Cream Shop, Woofs Down Strawberry Ice Cream [SFist]

Image: A black bear fishes for salmon backlit by fall color reflection at Prosser Creek near Lake Tahoe (Getty Images)

A nightmare came true for several skiers at the Tahoe ski resort Heavenly Monday morning, as their ski lift chairs collided, and some victims reportedly fell 30 feet to the ground before being rushed to a hospital.

Here’s a terrible incident that will give skiers the shivers every time they ride a ski lift from now on. The Chronicle reports that five people were injured in a ski lift accident Monday morning around 10 am at the Lake Tahoe resort Heavenly. The resort itself has been pretty mum on the circumstances, but eyewitnesses say that one of the ski lift chairs lost its grip on the cable, slid back, and crashed into the chair behind it. They add that some passengers fell from a height of about 30 feet, and multiple reports are confirming that five people were hospitalized.

The resort was frankly pretty evasive in their above tweet, simply saying that the lift called Comet Express is “on HOLD,” and linking to a page that just shows which lifts are operating and which are not. Parent company Vail Resorts did not add much more in a statement to the Carson, Nevada website Carson Now that simply said, “Heavenly Mountain Resort can confirm an incident occurred on its Comet Express chairlift today, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. The safety of our guests is our top priority and the resort is investigating the incident.”

Comet chair accident at Heavenly
byu/diamondshittingbull intahoe

But several purported eyewitnesses chimed in on this Reddit thread describing the accident. “Two forward going chairs collapsed and people fell on the ground,” the original poster notes. Another person claiming to be an eyewitness responded, “Ya I witness[ed] it. Chair slid backwards with people on it into the chair behind it. The people in front chair fell off.”

In terms of the victims’ conditions, a reported eyewitness claims, “There were 4 sleds to take the people down, it was not good at all. I saw one of the victims on oxygen as they went by.” Another purported witness says, “Yeah they fell from a good 30/40 feet, 1 definitely had broken ribs and a collapsed lung could not breathe on his own so ski patrol had to provide oxygen, can confirm at least 1 left in a life flight helicopter.”

According to the site Carson Now, five people were transported to and hospitalized at Renown Hospital in Reno. Their ages, conditions, and identities have not yet been released.

Related: Missing Woman Found Stranded on Gondola Overnight at Tahoe Ski Resort [SFist]

Image: xamfed via Reddit

Despite major community objections, Palisades Tahoe won approval on Tuesday for a gigantic, 85-acre expansion that would add 1,500 hotel rooms, plus shops, restaurants, and a movie theater to their resort.

There was a big change at the ski resort formerly known as Squaw Valley when they rebranded as Palisades Tahoe in 2021. Now an even bigger change appears to be coming, as the Chronicle reports the resort just got approval from the Placer County Board of Supervisors to build an 85-acre expansion on Palisades Tahoe that adds hundreds of vacation homes, hotels, and an elaborate shopping center to the resort’s footprint.  

The resort’s owner Alterra Mountain Company describes the newly approved development as “a world-class village.” The Chronicle decribes it in more detail as "about 850 lodging units, 1,500 hotel rooms, 300,000 square feet of commercial space, 3,000 parking spaces and housing for about 300 ski area employees." There are also plans to add restaurants and a movie theater as part of the expansion.

Alterra has been trying to get this thing passed for the last 13 years. This version is a  scaled-back proposal compared to previous submissions, as Tahoe residents had pushed back and even successfully sued to halt previous proposals. The phased construction would take an estimated 25 years total, and try to make Palisades Tahoe more of a year-round attraction.

"We must diversify our activities to better manage the uncertainty," Palisades president and COO Amy Ohran said at Tuesday's meeting. "We need to move forward in a way that honors our mountain culture, meets today’s need and ensures the resilience in the future."

In separate remarks to the Chronicle, Ohran said that “What we’re trying to do is not build visitation on our peak days, it’s to fill in the times when people aren’t visiting.” That’s why the resort added a $65 million gondola in 2022.

But locals were up in arms that the development could bring increased traffic, wildfire evacuation delays, and a massive spike in the cost of living, all problems that have worsened in the Lake Tahoe region since the pandemic. The Chronicle cites an estimate that the development could add “3,000 daily car trips” on North Lake Tahoe roadways — many of which are just two-lane roads.

An environmental group called Sierra Watch, which had successfully sued to halt previous versions of the plan, says they will sue again over this proposal. “It feels like deja vu all over again and we’re headed for a trainwreck and a likely legal challenge,” Sierra Watch executive director Tom Mooers told the Chronicle.

Alterra Mountain Company says they will contribute $2 million to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to add public transit options and mitigate traffic increases. The company is also offering to build a new fire station or redesign the current one, to whatever degree that might stop deadly wildfire evacuation bottlenecks.

And while the supervisors approved the plan, they note the 25-year construction timeline created the possibility of scaling back components that end up being troublesome.

“There are opportunities to then put on the brakes and say, things have blown up, we aren’t seeing the results we want,” Supervisor Cindy Gustafson said before the vote.

Related: The New Name For Squaw Valley? Palisades Tahoe [SFist]

Image: Palisades Tahoe via Yelp

Pow! The powder of Mount Rose ski resort officially opened to skiers for the season Friday, and a flurry of other ski resorts have announced their prospective opening dates for the weeks to come.

There were some August snowfalls at high elevations in the Sierras this year, which made one wonder if the ski season would be starting earlier than normal for winter 2024-25 . It’s not, really. Last year, Tahoe’s highest-elevation resort Mount Rose was the first ski resort in the region to open on the second weekend of November. Well, here it is the second weekend of November 2024, and sure enough, the Chronicle reports that Mount Rose was scheduled to open today.  

That report was published Monday, but from the Facebook post above we can see that Mount Rose did indeed open on Friday. They’ll be open Saturday and Sunday too, both days from 9 am - 4 pm.

Some of that Mount Rose snow may be man-made, but there is a winter weather advisory in effect for the Tahoe area until 5 pm Saturday, and the National Weather service is predicting “Snow likely” for Friday night.

Mount Rose seems likely to have the Tahoe ski scene to itself for the next two weekends, but KTVU lists the current scheduled opening dates for other Tahoe resorts. Though you’re advised to keep an eye on these resorts’ websites, and these dates could move back — or up — depending on the weather.

• Boreal: Friday, November 22
• Heavenly: Friday, November 22
• Northstar: Friday, November 22
• Palisades Tahoe: Wednesday, November 27
• Diamond Peak: Thursday, December 5

Though you’ll notice this list does not include North Tahoe’s Homewood, as Homewood will not operate this season, and may not ever be open to the public again.

Related: Ski Season Is Officially Here as First Tahoe Ski Resort Opens on Friday [SFist]

Image: Mt. Rose - Ski Tahoe via Facebook

Image: Joe Kukura, SFist

The snowfall totals are in for this past weekend's blizzard up in Tahoe. And while it sounds like major records were not broken, it was still a whole ton of snow that no one knows what to do with — except the ski resorts.

Interstate 80 reopened late Monday morning after being closed to traffic since Friday, with Caltrans' mega-freeway-sized snowblowers finally able to cut through the multiple feet of snow on the roadways.

UC Berkeley's Sierra Snow Lab had said last week that this blizzard, given the dire forecasts, stood a chance of breaking its daily snowfall measurement records. The snowiest day on record at the lab was February 3, 1989, when 52 inches fell in a single day.

The biggest one-day total of the weekend was recorded Sunday morning, March 3, at the lab, and that was just 23.8 inches — so, still fairly far off the record books, with the 10th snowiest day recorded at 39 inches. But the lab still saw a total of around 6 feet of snow fall over the course of the storm, or 75.2 inches, bringing them to their seasonal peak snowpack — and bringing most of the state up to or above historic averages for snow-water equivalent accumulations.

The Northern Sierra stands at 111% of its average snow-water equivalent for the snowpack. Compare that to last week, before this blizzard, when it was at 91%.

For the Central and Southern Sierra, the figure hit 94%, up from 77% earlier in the week.

But at higher elevations, the totals were even more impressive — if not hitting the 12 and 13 feet that some forecasts had predicted. Palisades Tahoe recorded 96 inches as of Monday morning, with Homewood resort recording 98 inches.

As KTVU reports, Sugar Bowl resort had the highest overal total with 10 feet, or 120 inches of new snow, and Boreal came in second with 9.9 feet.

The Tahoe area residents and those who have been happily snowbound up there all weekend are getting to enjoy some of that fresh powder today, though Palisades warned that ongoing wind conditions would keep many of its chairlifts closed on Monday.

Here's a video of a UC Berkeley Sierra Snow Lab employee doing a snow angel on Friday while going out to take Friday's measurement:

Photo via UC Berkeley Sierra Snow Lab/X

Photo via Caltrans

A man who was fatally shot by a Placer County Sheriff's deputy last week at the Palisades Tahoe ski resort has been identified, and we're now learning more about the circumstances that led to the shooting.

There aren't a lot of shootings, let alone officer-involved shootings, in the Tahoe environs. But news arrived Friday of an officer-involved shooting at Palisades Tahoe in which one person was left dead.

As the Chronicle reported Saturday, a California State Parks peace officer spotted a vehicle that was wanted in connection with a carjacking that occurred earlier in Tahoe City. The offficer attempted a traffic stop in Tahoe City around 9:30 a.m. Friday, but the vehicle, a white pickup truck belonging to the Palisades Tahoe resort, failed to stop. This led to a chase by sheriff's deputies down State Highway 28 and onto 89, in which a passenger apparently jumped out of the moving truck, and the driver was driving erratically, at times into oncoming traffic.

The truck, which was emblazoned with the Palisades Tahoe logo, ultimately crashed near the Olympic Village Inn, having returned to the ski resort area.

The suspect, 29-year-old Vinton Miller of Jamaica, allegedly got out of the truck holding a knife, and he was fatally shot by one of the deputies.

Palisades Tahoe later confirmed that Miller was employed at the resort, and was on a work visa.

"Our hearts go out to [Miller's] family and friends during this challenging time,” a Palisades Tahoe spokesperson said Saturday.

It's not clear whether the alleged carjacking took place at the resort — and, as an employee, if Miller was not supposed to be using the resort's vehicles.

As Bay Area News Group reports, the sheriff's office has said it will continue to release information as the investigation continues.

It's still only January, and it's been a dramatic ski season at Palisades already. Just three weeks ago, the resort saw two avalanches in two days — rarities in a normal year, and clustered so close together this was cause for alarm. One person died in the first avalanche, which occurred on January 10.

Some have speculated that early season rains created a "weak layer" beneath the snowpack that led to some uniquely avalanche-prone conditions.

Photo: Lucas Souza

The man who was killed Wednesday morning in an avalanche at Palisades Tahoe has been identified as a Bay Area resident who also had a home in Truckee.

Wednesday's avalanche occurred just after the lifts opened at Palisades amid a snowy morning, and the four skiers who became trapped in it were reportedly the first few down a slope, in the bowl beneath the lift near the peak called KT-22.

The trail is called GS Bowl, and it is a black diamond trail that opened for the first time this season just moments before the avalanche occured.

The one person who was killed has now been identified as 66-year-old Kenneth Kidd. As KTVU reports, Kidd had residences in Point Reyes and Truckee.

"This is a very sad day for my team and everyone here," said Dee Byrne, President and CEO of Palisades Tahoe Resort, during a press conference Wednesday in which she became visibly emotional.

This was the first avalanche to occur at the ski area since January 2020 — when an avalanche on the Alpine Meadows side of the resort killed one person and injured another.

One skier who became buried in the avalanche but was quickly pulled out by another skier, Janet He, says she was very lucky to have been spotted by someone.

Her husband, who had skied ahead of her, had no idea where she was.

"The avalanche happened just behind me," says He's husband, Joseph Lu, speaking to KPIX. "And I don't see her. I'm yelling and yelling. When I realized what may happen, it really struck me. I was using my ski pole frantically punching everywhere and yelling her name."

Janet He says that she could feel the snow giving way, and she ended up being swept down about 200 feet down the slope.

"The snow is already moving my feet, took me away and swept me off the mountain," she tells KPIX. "I couldn't pull myself up because the snow was so heavy on top of me. I was buried, my face buried in the snow. I'm lucky I had the face mask, I had some air in the face mask."

And, she says, she quickly heard someone above her saying, "No worries, I got you," and it was the fellow skier who rescued her.

"I think that's the best thing I ever heard in my life," she says.

A snowboarder from Santa Cruz, Jason Glickman, who was less than a minute away from being caught in the avalanche, and who saw its immediate aftermath from above, described the scene for the Chronicle.

"Everyone was focused on trying to find people who were caught," Glickman says. "No one was concerned with skiing or snowboarding."

Glickman's friend, who had avalanche training, began pulling up trail markers and using them to probe the snow in the debris area, in the hope of finding a person. Avalanche dogs and ski patrol were soon on the scene, and three people were successfully pulled from the snow.

Only Kidd was not found in time, or suffered more serious injuries.

All ski resorts in the Tahoe area have avalanche protocols, and the operations team at Palisades had reportedly been doing control work in the days ahead of Wednesday's disaster.

"Avalanches are extremely rare, but they do happen," says Ski California's president Michael Reitzell, speaking to KTVU.

Palisades Tahoe reopened for skiing Thursday, though the KT-22 area remained closed.

Previously: [Update] One Confirmed Dead In Avalanche at Palisades Tahoe

Photo via Palisades Tahoe

There was an avalanche Wednesday morning at Palisades Tahoe that reportedly buried multiple skiers who were among the first down a trail, and a search and rescue operation is underway.

The avalanche occurred around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, amid heavy snow, on a trail that had just opened for the first time this ski season. As one local resident wrote on social media, "KT-22 opened at 9 AM today (Wed 1/10) for the first time this season. Apparently the first group of skiers up the lift skied down in the bowl under the lift, triggering a massive avalanche that spanned the width of the entire bowl. Multiple people buried. Patrol is up there right now doing search and rescue operations. Multiple people missing. Pray they are found alive."

The resort also reported on the avalanche on Xitter, adding, "Both sides of our mountain will be closed for the day."

The Sierra was expected to get a significant amount of snow Wednesday all day, with a storm system moving in from the north that was forecast to dump around a foot of snow, or more at higher elevations. This followed a similar storm that came through the mountains on Monday.

The Sierra Avalanche Center warned of "considerable" avalanche risk at all elevations on Wednesday in the Sierra backcountry, particularly in the early evening hours today, with gale-force winds adding to the danger.

The Placer County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene at Palisades, as KCRA reports.

The last deadly avalanche at the ski area, formerly known as Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, occurred in January 2020. In that avalanche on the Alpine Meadows side of the resort, one skier was killed and another was injured. The ski area was subsequently sued, and settled the the cases in 2022, as the Chronicle reported.

Update 1:30 p.m.: A Facebook post picked up on the ski blog Powder, by skier Chris Ernst who said he witnessed the avalanche, suggested that there were three people initially buried and all three were found alive.

"Thank You Everyone for your life saving skills. His name is Jason, and by the grace of God he is alive! This happened on East Side of KT 22 at approx 9:35A and a plethora of people helped with 2 different slides that were thick and rapid. At least 3 buried and FOUND," Ernst wrote.

A press conference is expected to provide further details shortly.

Update 2:00 p.m.: Powder and the Chronicle are reporting, via the Placer County Sheriff, that one fatality occurred in the avalanche, and one person was injured. The press conference was moved to 2:30 p.m.

Update 3:30 p.m.: Officials said that the search had ended and that four skiers had been caught up in the avalanche — the debris field of which was said to be 10 feet deep and 150 feet wide. Two skiers were rescued by civilians nearby, and two others had to be dug out by rescue crews. One of those was the deceased skier, a man who was reportedly visiting from elsewhere, who has not been publicly identified, and the other suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Michael Gross, vice president of mountain operations for Palisades, said at the press conference that it was "absolutely" normal for the mountain to have opened amid today's storm.

"The entire Palisades Tahoe team, including all of the first responders, extend their deepest sympathies to the family and friends of those involved in the incident," Palisades said in a statement.