In a tragic incident, an individual succumbed to the perils of an avalanche at Palisades Tahoe resort on Wednesday, as confirmed by authorities.
The deceased was identified as Kenneth Kidd, a 66-year-old hailing from Point Reyes and Truckee-Tahoe, as disclosed by the sheriff’s office.
The avalanche, unfolding its fury around 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday in the Palisades area above the GS gully section of KT-22, left four individuals ensnared, with two buried, one fatally so, and another sustaining injuries, as outlined during a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
Remarkably, no additional persons are reported missing, according to the authorities.
A female caught in the avalanche recounted her harrowing experience, sharing that she descended approximately 200 feet, finding herself buried until a benevolent stranger came to her rescue.
The resort management, in an official statement, acknowledged the avalanche occurring during the patrol hold of KT-22 at 9:28 a.m. The resort is scheduled to reopen at 9 a.m. on Thursday, but the KT-22 terrain will remain off-limits.
The aftermath of the avalanche spans a debris field approximately 150 feet wide, 450 feet long, and 10 feet deep, according to details provided by the sheriff’s office.
Confirming their proactive efforts, Palisades Tahoe mountain operations stated that avalanche mitigation activities were conducted in the area before the tragic event unfolded on Wednesday.
Over 100 personnel from Palisades Tahoe actively participated in the search and rescue operations. Additional support was mobilized from Cal Fire, with resources and personnel deployed to aid in the potential rescue endeavors, as communicated by the California governor’s office.
A skier, an eyewitness to the avalanche from a lift, shared her firsthand account with CBS13, detailing the collective efforts of herself and others who joined in the search operations.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, overseeing the 3rd Congressional District encompassing the resort area, expressed his office’s coordination with the Placer County Office of Emergency Services and gratitude for the diligent efforts of the first responders.
As per the resort’s website, all lifts at Palisades and Alpine have been shuttered for the day.
The Tahoe region is no stranger to the inherent dangers of avalanches, with the Sierra Avalanche Center routinely issuing daily danger forecasts. On Wednesday, the avalanche danger rating was deemed “considerable” for all levels monitored by the center.
Reflecting on past incidents, an avalanche at Alpine Meadows claimed the life of a skier in 2020.
Notably, until Wednesday, there were no recorded avalanche-related fatalities in the United States in 2024, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. The preceding year saw 30 fatalities nationwide, with two occurring in California—one involving a hiker on Split Mountain, southwest of Big Pine, and the other a backcountry skier at Hurd Peak, southwest of Bishop.
Palisades Tahoe, hosting the 1960 Winter Olympics, stands as one of the region’s prominent ski resorts. Its renaming in 2021, spurred by Native American advocacy groups, sought to address the derogatory historical connotations associated with the original name.