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SQUAW VALLEY — After heavy snowfall, an avalanche hit the Squaw Valley ski resort on Friday striking five people and sending two people to the hospital with injuries.
An Instagram video shows the rescue of one snowboarder buried in the snow for what the photographer said was six minutes. He was found by his board sticking out from the snow, rescuers can be heard saying as they worked to free him.
The stunning video, which was taken down shortly after it was posted, shows a handful of rescuers shoveling out a man, who’s head and shoulders are poking out of the snow. The man appears OK and is smiling as rescuers work to free him from the snow.
Late Friday, Squaw Valley released a statement saying that at 1:40 p.m. guests reported an “inbounds avalanche” near the Olympic Lady chairlift. The cause of the avalanche is unknown, but the resort is investigating.
Five guests were caught in the avalanche, two females and three males. One guest had a serious lower body injury and was taken by firefighters to North Tahoe Forest Hospital. Another guest was rescued and taken to a Truckee hospital and released a short time later. The other three were unharmed.
Another skier at the resort said at least three of those people had to be dug out. That skier, who did not want to be named, said the slide started at the top of the Olympic Lady lift down to a run called Easy Street.
He said guests saw it happen and were able to pinpoint where people were buried. One had a broken leg, he said. At the bottom of the avalanche, about 10 feet of snow piled up, he said.
A massive search effort was launched with Squaw Valley and Alpone Meadows ski patrols, along with police and fire. More than 100 ski patrollers, emergency responders and numerous rescue dogs responded. All people were accounted for and search operations have concluded, according to Squaw Valley.
The resort closed for the remainder of the day due to avalanche hazard. The Sierra Avalanche Center posted an advisory Friday morning. A Squaw Valley spokeswoman said the resort, as of 7 a.m. Friday, had received almost three feet of snow in the past 24 hours.
“We hope for the full and speedy recovery of the injured guests, and extend our thoughts and support to all those involved,” the resort said in its statement. “The Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows team extends its immense appreciation for the professionalism of all of the staff and responding agencies involved in this incident.”
A Placer County Sheriff spokeswoman said deputies responded to the resort around 2:15 p.m. to help out, but she was told everyone had escaped the avalanche. On its Twitter account, the department said deputies confirmed that all the victims in the avalanche were accounted for after a dog and probe search, and that there were no life-threatening injuries.
Visitors flocked to the Sierras on Friday as fresh snow came from a large winter storm.
On scene at Squaw Valley for avalanche. pic.twitter.com/AFWg7zKGfr
— Placer Sheriff (@PlacerSheriff) March 2, 2018
“Fire got everyone out,” the official said.
The avalanche hit hours after Squaw Valley Ski Patrol members found the body of missing snowboarder Wenyu Zhang, 42, of Rocklin, who was missing since Thursday afternoon, according to the sheriff’s office. He had been reported missing by his friends Thursday night.
A search area had been narrowed through a tracking program used by the resort and the Placer County sheriff Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team began searching for Zhang. His cause of death is unknown. He was wearing a helmet when he was found.
