Avalanche at Alpine Meadows Leaves One Dead, One Injured

Update, 2:28 p.m. Friday:

Following heavy snow after a storm moved through the Lake Tahoe area Thursday, an avalanche struck the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort Friday morning around 10:15 a.m. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office confirmed one fatality and said another victim sustained serious injuries.

Sheriff’s officials identified the deceased victim as 34-year-old Cole Comstock of Blairsden, California.

The Sheriff’s Office said search and rescue teams called off the search at 12:50 p.m. after confirming there were no other potential victims. Alpine Meadows is located just south of the Squaw Valley Ski Resort, northwest of Lake Tahoe.

According to a statement released by Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, the avalanche occurred between Scott Chute and Promised Land near Scott Chair, in an open area of the resort.

Cole was pronounced dead at 11 a.m., and another male skier suffered severe lower body injuries and was transported to the hospital.

According to the statement from the resort, Alpine Meadows Ski Patrol responded to the scene and completed a thorough search of the area, using avalanche transceivers, probes, RECCO Rescue System technology and avalanche rescue dog teams. The statement said witnesses saw no other individuals involved in the incident and no other people have been reported as missing or unaccounted for. The resort’s search was concluded around 11:45 a.m.

However, the Sheriff’s Office said they continued their search efforts for another hour before also confirming that there were no other victims.

“At this point, there is no reason to believe that any other area of the resort or Alpine Meadows is in jeopardy,” said Sgt. Mike Powers.

Squaw Alpine Mountain Operations had tweeted earlier in the morning, around 7:59 a.m., that they were conducting avalanche control at Alpine Meadows and reopened the affected areas about three hours later.

The mountains were hit with heavy snow on Thursday, with snowfall totals from the storm hitting 25 inches at the Alpine Meadows resort. The National Weather Service also issued a winter storm warning and an avalanche watch starting at 7 a.m. Thursday.

“Periods of high avalanche danger may occur from Thursday morning through Friday morning,” said the NWS warning. “Forecast heavy snow and high wind may result in widespread avalanche activity in the mountains.”

The cause of Friday’s avalanche is currently unknown.

This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.