Skier killed by avalanche at California ski resort

Heavy snows in the Sierras made for difficult holiday travel on Christmas Day and also proved deadly for a skier who lost his life in an avalanche at a popular ski resort.

Authorities in Lake Tahoe, California, reported that local resident Randall Davis was skiing on an expert slope in a heavily-wooded area on Thursday morning at the Squaw Valley ski resort, when he was separated from his partner. His skiing companion contacted the resort’s ski patrol, which located a single ski sticking up through a fresh avalanche.

Electronic tracking devices and rescue dogs led the patrol to the skier, who had died when he was covered by several feet of snow from the avalanche.

The Sheriff’s Department of Placer County reported that Davis was an expert skier who was very familiar with the slopes at Squaw Valley. On Thursday morning, there were blizzard conditions and high winds on the mountain.

On Thursday night search crews were looking for two missing skiers at the Mount Rose ski resort, located to the southwest of Reno, Nevada.

A 21-year-old woman and 20-year-old man, who had been skiing at Mt. Rose’s East Bowl, were reported missing around 3:00pm local time.

A spokesman from the local sheriff’s office said that they had been in contact with the skiers by mobile phone, but they were concerned as night fell and temperatures dropped to single digits and the winds increased.

www.squaw.com