Two days after an avalanche near Truckee buried 15 skiers, what do we know?

Camila Pedrosa, The Sacramento Bee on Feb 19, 2026

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It’s been nearly 48 hours since 15 skiers went missing in the Sierra Nevada following a backcountry avalanche.

A group of skiers and professional guides were traversing the Castle Peak area of the mountain amid a heavy snowstorm on Tuesday morning when they were reported missing. The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office launched a rescue and recovery mission, which was still ongoing Thursday morning.

Here’s what we have learned about the situation over two days:

Who were the people lost in the avalanche? How many skiers died?

A group of 11 ski trip participants from various states and four professional guides were returning from a three-day trip to a lodging area on the mountain Tuesday. Early in the morning, an avalanche struck the group as they were passing the Castle Peak area.

It has become the state’s deadliest avalanche on record and the nation’s deadliest in four decades.

The ski trip was organized by Blackbird Mountain Guides, a Truckee-based organization that hosts snow safety courses, guided skiing trips and rock climbing excursions around the world.

The Nevada County Sheriff reported on Wednesday that eight people from the missing party had been found dead. One member of the party was still missing and presumed dead as of Wednesday afternoon, the sheriff’s office reported. Seven of the skiers swept away were women and two were men. It was unclear as of Thursday morning whether the missing skier was a man or woman, and whether they were a guide or a client.

Multiple people killed in the avalanche were connected to a competitive ski academy at nearby Sugar Bowl Resort, the program said Wednesday. Sugar Bowl Academy, which is based a few miles south of Castle Peak, did not identify those it is connected with “out of respect for the families affected.”

One of the people who died was the spouse of a member of a Nordic search and rescue team for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, according to Sheriff Wayne Woo. It is unclear if they are also connected to the school.

Another six skiers were rescued Tuesday evening. The rescued group ranged in age from 30-55 and included four men and two women.

Does the Sierra Nevada get deadly avalanches frequently?

According to previous Bee reporting, the area where the skiers were caught has experienced a number of fatal avalanches in the past.

Most recently, Chris Scott Thomason of Bend, Oregon, died in January while snowmobiling in Castle Peak. Since 2012, the nearby area has had three other deadly slides, The Bee reported.

So far this winter season, six people across the country — including two from California — have died in avalanches prior to Tuesday’s incident, according to the National Avalanche Center. In California, there is an average of one avalanche death per year, according to data from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

In the state’s backcountry regions — areas of the mountain unpatrolled by ski resorts — 13 people have died in avalanches while skiing since 1979, not counting Tuesday’s avalanche.

Where is Castle Peak?

The area of the Sierra Nevada where the ski group was caught sits roughly 10 miles west of Truckee, north of Interstate 80.

Backcountry skiers and snowboarders can access the Castle Peak area from the Boreal Mountain Resort or trailheads nearby, according to previous Bee reporting. That portion of the mountain is very popular for backcountry snow sports in the winter and mountain biking in the summer.

How did the avalanche happen?

According to a Reno, Nevada, meteorologist, conditions across the mountain were set weeks in advance for dangerous avalanches to occur.

Meteorologist Brian Drong previously told The Bee that a long stretch of dry weather in January made the Sierra Nevada snowpack dense and heavy with water. That meant that when a storm dropped some powder, the new snow sat above the initial pack and did not meld into a unified slab.

Once the heavy storm arrived over the weekend, multiple feet of new snow in a short period of time weighed down on a weaker, lower layer of snow and ice, which led to avalanches like the one in Castle Peak on Tuesday.

Is there still a risk of avalanche in the Sierra Nevada?

According to the Sierra Avalanche Center, risks of slides across the mountains were just as high as Tuesday going into Wednesday and Thursday.

The avalanche center rates the danger level of avalanches on a five-point scale, with one being considered “low” risk and five considered “extreme” risk. Areas of the entire central Sierra Nevada were at risk level four, which is “high.”

At the “high” risk level, conditions are ripe for very dangerous avalanches, according to the center. This includes widespread large avalanches and the possibility of very large avalanches in certain places.

The risk for avalanches remains high through Friday morning.

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