A new report by an avalanche education organization describes in detail the events of February 17, and the avalanche conditions that were present as a group of 11 skiers and four guides headed on a dangerous route out of the back country near Donner Summit.
A new description and analysis of the February 17 avalanche tragedy near Lake Tahoe and Donner Summit points the finger at the back-country ski guides for choosing the route out of the wilderness that they chose that day. But, the report authors say, their analysis is currently limited by the fact that not all six of the survivors have given statements about how the events of the day played out.
Much of the analysis of the accident itself comes from the descriptions of two survivors, 37-year-old Anton Auzans and 65-year-old Jim Hamilton, which they gave to the New York Times back in February.
The report comes from Avalanche.org, which is a partnership between the Colorado Avalanche Information Center and the National Avalanche Center at the US Forest Service.
"This group traveled below avalanche terrain and through the runout zone of an avalanche path during a period when a natural or human triggered avalanche was likely to very likely," the report concludes.
The report begins by describing the extreme weather conditions on the day of the avalanche, noting that high winds that morning were creating especially hazardous conditions on nearby peaks. The group had skied out from the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts into an avalanche runout zone below the north slopes of Perry Peak.
"The avalanche occurred on a slope where the wind had redistributed the snowfall, piling it into drifts far deeper than the amount measured at nearby weather stations," the report says, adding that the exact crown of the avalanche was never found, and the entire area was quickly reburied in snow — with approximately two feet falling on the avalanche debris field by the time rescuers arrived.
The avalanche occurred around 11:3o am on February 17, and Hamilton and a still unidentified guide with Blackbird Mountain Guides had lagged behind the rest of the group, after Hamilton experienced trouble with one of his ski bindings.
That lag likely saved them, and they were not even close enough to hear one of the group yell "Avalanche!" as it was occurring.
Auzans was close enough to see a "wall of white with a strange blurs of colors" that he later realized was the clothing and skis of the group members being swept up in the snow.
The victims were all found buried three to eight feet deep in the snow, and Auzans, Hamilton, and the guide were able to help rescue three of the others, and later unburied two victims who showed no signs of life. The six survivors made their way down the slope out of the avalanche zone and took shelter under a tarp while waiting for rescuers, who ultimately led them out on their own power, retracing their route back to the Frog Lake Huts.
This report is the first to include the detail that several members of the group were wearing backpacks equipped avalanche airbags — meant to be deployed as an avalanche is occurring to help create a pocket of air in which to breathe underneath snow. None of these were deployed, even among the experienced guides, suggesting that the avalanche struck quickly and with little warning.
As the report states, the two survivors who have given accounts, Auzans and Hamilton, "were near the back of the group and did not have a role in route planning or decision-making."
"If other survivors who were closer to the front of the group and part of the group of women eventually choose to share their story, it may include different information and details," the report says.
The nine victims are listed below, with the first three being the ski guides who led the group that day.
- Andrew Alissandratos, 34, from Verdi, Nevada
- Michael Henry, 30, from Tampa Bay, Florida
- Nicole "Niki" Choo, 42, from South Lake Tahoe
- Carrie Atkin, 42, from South Lake Tahoe
- Liz Clabaugh, 52, from Boise, Idaho
- Danielle Keatley, 44, from Marin County
- Kate Morse, 45, from Marin County
- Caroline Sekar, 45, from San Francisco
- Kate Vitt, 43, from Marin County
Previously: Avalanche Survivors Fill In Key Pieces of the Story of What Happened Before Nine Were Buried
Photo via Wikimedia
