Everything we know about the Alpine Meadows avalanche that killed one, injured another
One man was killed and another was seriously injured in an avalanche Friday morning at Lake Tahoe’s popular Alpine Meadows Ski Resort — the first avalanche fatality in two winter seasons in California.
The avalanche swept up the two men just after 10:15 a.m. on the ski run known as Subway Cirque, located several yards from the Scott chairlift.
It’s unclear what triggered the snow to let loose, but Alpine Meadows’ steep terrain coupled with heavy bursts of snow have caused deadly avalanches before.
Within hours, Placer County sheriff’s deputies identified the skier who died as Cole Comstock, 34, of Blairsden, a mountain community of fewer than 100 people in Plumas County. Deputies didn’t identify the other man but said he was rushed to a hospital with “severe lower-body injuries.”
Initially, Placer County officials reported that there were possibly “several unaccounted victims” in an ungroomed but open slope between Scott Chute and Promised Land but rescue crews were unable to find any additional people swept up in the slide. No one else was reported missing, officials said.
“At this point there’s no reason to believe that any other area of the resort or Alpine Meadows is in jeopardy,” said Sgt. Mike Powers of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted early Friday afternoon on the agency’s social media accounts.
Officials at the resort said they conducted avalanche control on Friday morning.
“The entire Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows team, including all of the first responders, extend their deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased,” the resort said in an online statement. “We are working closely with the families of all the affected individuals to ensure their continued care.”
Other areas of Alpine Meadows remained open throughout the day. The avalanche came Friday after mountain forecasters warned of unstable hillsides following a heavy snow storm.
“There is a high degree of uncertainty today in regards to snowpack instability near and below treeline,” said forecasters at the Sierra Avalanche Center just before 7 a.m. “Significant drifting of new snow has occurred near treeline and above treeline. CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger is forecast for all elevations.”
Friday’s slide came less than 48 hours after a winter storm moved into the Sierra late Wednesday dropping snow levels as low as Colfax at 2,425 feet ahead of the heaviest Sierra snow on Thursday.
Alpine Meadows is located near the north side of Lake Tahoe. The National Weather Service said the resort had received just over two feet of snow from 8 p.m. Wednesday through 8 a.m. Friday.
Snowboarder Rex Mulvaney of Reno told the Associated Press that he saw some areas roped off as people heading down the mountain, which sits southeast of the lodge. The Subway Cirque route is a steep and craggy trail that sits above a beginner’s run of the same name.
“I knew right away something was wrong,” he told the AP. “They don’t usually close something as soon as they open it, like five minutes later.”
Friday’s avalanche is not the first to claim a life at the resort. An avalanche in March 1982 struck the Summit Chairlift Terminal building, killing seven people after it hit the main ski lodge, two chairlifts and several outbuildings. Seven years ago, a ski patroller was buried and killed inspecting Sherwood Bowl after a controlled explosion created an avalanche larger than expected.
Friday marked the first avalanche death in California since a mother and son were killed in a roof avalanche at their Kirkwood rental home on March 4, 2018, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
So far in the 2019-2020 winter season, 10 people have died in avalanches in the U.S., but this is just the second to be inside the bounds of a resort, which are better maintained. There have only been five people killed in California avalanches since 2013.
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Everything we know about the Alpine Meadows avalanche that killed one, injured another."
