An avalanche tore through a group of 15 backcountry skiers near Perry Peak in California's Castle Peak area on Tuesday, killing eight and leaving one still missing and presumed dead. Six survived. It is the deadliest avalanche in the United States since 1981.

The group was on the final day of a three-day trek organized by Blackbird Mountain Guides, a commercial outfit that had led them into the Sierra Nevada wilderness near Truckee. They had spent two nights in huts at Frog Lake and were heading back to the trailhead when the mountain came down at approximately 11:30 AM.

One skier saw it coming and yelled "avalanche." It was not enough. The slide, described by Tahoe National Forest Supervisor Chris Feutrier as the length of a football field, buried nine of the fifteen. Of those nine, none have been recovered alive.

A Rescue That Became a Recovery

The six survivors sheltered in place using their equipment and managed to locate three of the dead before help arrived. Authorities were alerted through Blackbird Mountain Guides and the skiers' emergency beacons. Rescuers communicated with survivors via iPhone SOS.

Getting to them was an ordeal in itself. Roughly 50 search and rescue personnel deployed from the north and south sides of the mountain. They used a snowcat to get within two miles of the site, then skied the rest. They reached the survivors around 5:30 PM, six hours after the avalanche hit, battling what officials described as whiteout conditions.

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon did not mince words about what her teams faced:

Extreme weather conditions is an understatement.

According to the Daily Mail, two survivors were taken to a hospital. One was released; the other stayed overnight with non-life-threatening injuries. The surviving group consisted of one guide and five clients: four men and two women, ages 30 to 55.

By Wednesday, police had located five additional bodies. The search mission officially transitioned from rescue to recovery. Sheriff Moon confirmed the grim shift:

Due to the ongoing challenges of the weather, the avalanche conditions, the effort remains ongoing, as well as our search for the remaining skier.

Of the nine presumed dead, seven are women and two are men. Their identities are being withheld pending family notification.

A Warning That Wasn't Enough

Two days before the storm hit, Blackbird Mountain Guides issued warnings. A ski guide posted on the company's Facebook page urging snow sportsmen to "use extra caution this week" and flagging abnormal avalanche behavior:

As we move into a large storm cycle this week, pay close attention to places where faceting has been particularly strong — avalanches could behave abnormally, and the hazard could last longer than normal.

The warning was published. The trek proceeded anyway. Local skiers have since pushed back against Blackbird, with some claiming the firm made a "bad call" by continuing the excursion into the storm cycle the company itself had flagged.

Blackbird released a statement after the disaster:

Our thoughts are with the missing individuals, their families, and first responders in the field.

That is a measured statement from a company that warned of dangerous conditions and then guided paying clients directly into them. Whether this reflects a failure of judgment, a calculated risk that went catastrophically wrong, or something else entirely will be a question that outlasts the search itself.

The Personal Cost

Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo revealed that one of the skiers killed is the spouse of a search and rescue team member. Consider the weight of that for the teams still working the mountain: recovering the dead while one of their own grieves among them.

The Castle Peak area sits in some of the most rugged terrain in the Sierra Nevada. Avalanche forecaster Steve Reynaud with the Sierra Avalanche Center described the region as demanding difficult navigation, with all food and supplies carried in to the huts on foot. The area receives an average of nearly 35 feet of snow per year. Until just a few years ago, it was entirely closed to the public.

The Sierra Avalanche Center has warned that avalanche risk remains high and has advised against travel in the area.

The Deadliest in 45 Years

The last avalanche to claim more American lives occurred in 1981, when a slide on Ingraham Glacier at Mount Rainier in Washington killed ten mountain climbers and one guide. That this record held for more than four decades speaks to how rare an event of this magnitude truly is.

Backcountry skiing has surged in popularity over the past decade, drawing people deeper into terrain that does not forgive miscalculation. The wilderness does not care about forecasts, experience levels, or how much you paid for a guided tour. It operates on its own terms. The people who venture into it accept a degree of risk that no guide service can fully eliminate.

None of that diminishes the loss. Eight confirmed dead. One still out there, somewhere beneath the snow. Families waiting for calls that will change everything. Rescuers who have seen things they will carry for years.

The cause of death for the deceased has not yet been determined. The mountain, for now, is still being searched.