"The group of backcountry skiers was finishing a three-day trek to the Frog Lake Huts when they were caught in a football field-sized avalanche near Castle Peak. Rescuers saved six surviving skiers Tuesday and located eight deceased skiers. One skier remains missing but is presumed dead as rescue operations have shifted to recovery operations amid stormy winter weather and continued risk of avalanches. Three out of four of the company's guides who were leading the trip are among the dead."
"In the video, guides on skis dig through a layer of soft snow at Mt. Rose on the Nevada side of Tahoe to find a microcrust and a layer of sugary weak facets. At a higher elevation, they find, the crust is almost nonexistent. This weak layer could lead to some unpredictable avalanches! text on the screen reads as a guide shuffles soft snow through his fingers."
"The post explains that the snow was forming atypical layering from what would normally be expected at this point in the season. Typically, we'd expect small amounts of faceting between big storms, but with a crust and extended dry period for the month of January into February, faceting has been a driving force in the snowpack, the company said. That results in a particularly weak layer, they added. As we move into a large storm cycle this week, pay close attention to places where faceting"
A backcountry ski party of 15 was struck by a football field-sized avalanche near Castle Peak while finishing a three-day trek to the Frog Lake Huts. Rescuers recovered eight deceased skiers and saved six survivors; one skier remains missing and is presumed dead. Three of the four guides leading the trip died. Blackbird Mountain Guides posted a video warning of abnormally behaving avalanches and showed soft snow, a microcrust and sugary faceted layers at Mt. Rose. An extended dry period created atypical faceting, producing a particularly weak layer as a major storm approached, increasing avalanche risk.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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