“I heard absolutely nothing and had no reason to suspect that the avalanche was literally picking me up,” she said.
“Once I stopped, my biggest fear was not knowing if there was more snow falling behind me because I was up to my neck. At that precise moment, I realized how dangerous avalanches are and how quickly people can get fatally injured because the weight of the snow was frankly indescribable,” he said. It was very heavy.
Callum Wishart, left, and Oliver Thompson were skiing when the avalanche occurred.credit: Instagram
While the three Australians were lucky, the Placer County Sheriff's Office confirmed that one person, 66-year-old Kenneth Kidd, was killed in the avalanche.
The avalanche debris field extended 45 meters wide, 137 meters long and 3 meters deep, the sheriff's office said.
“This is a very sad day for my team and everyone here,” Palisades Tahoe President Dee Byrne said, her voice emotional.
The avalanche occurred at about 9:30 a.m. at the resort near Lake Tahoe, where a large storm was blowing in with gusty winds.
The death was the first avalanche death in the United States this season, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which monitors nationwide.
A 2020 avalanche at Alpine Meadows killed one skier and seriously injured another a day after a major storm. Another avalanche at the resort in March 1982 killed seven people, including a number of employees.
With AP
