CA Hit With Two More Skier Deaths In Deadliest Week In Recent History

DOUGLAS COUNTY, CA — Two skiers are dead following separate accidents at Heavenly Mountain Resort, according to authorities. Their deaths — following two other ski resort fatalities last week and the back country avalanche tragedy that claimed nine lives — are the latest in one of the deadliest weeks in recent history for the Tahoe region.

The latest incidents were not related; however, both occurred around noon on Friday, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office told KRON4.

According to the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, resort ski patrol staff recovered both victims and took them to the base of the ski slopes, where paramedics tried to revive them. Both victims were later pronounced dead.

One of the incidents took place on the intermediate Orion Trail, while the other occurred on the Tamarack Return Trail, authorities said.

The victims were 33-year-old and 54-year-old men, officials said. Authorities have not publicly released their names.

The cause and manner of death are pending, authorities said.

The deaths mark the latest in a series of fatalities in Tahoe this week and underscore the dangers skiers face during the winter months on California's mountains.

On Saturday, crews recovered the bodies of nine backcountry skiers who were killed in an avalanche on Castle Peak near Lake Tahoe on Tuesday, concluding a harrowing operation hindered by this week's intense snowfall.

The avalanche was the deadliest in the U.S. since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier in Washington state.

Amid the rescue and recovery effort, another skier was reported missing Wednesday around Martis Camp Express at the Northstar Ski Resort after his vehicle was found in Northstar's parking lot. Colin Kang, 21, was an off-duty worker at the resort, according to the San Jose State University Ski & Snowboard Club and authorities.

His body was found at the resort the next day. According to authorities, he appeared to have fallen in to the well of a tree along a black diamond run. A tree well is created when the branches protect the base of the tree from heavy snow creating, a snowless ring that can be surrounded by a wall of snow in heavy storms.

Last weekend, 53-year-old Stuart McLaughlin of Hillsborough was also killed at Northstar California Resort in Truckee after he was involved in a “serious on-mountain collision” involving two guests, the resort told KRON.

Another skier also died in the area earlier this month.

On Feb. 6, 26-year-old Nicholas Kenworthy died at Northstar after he was involved in a skiing accident, the Placer County Sheriff's Office told CBS News Sacramento.

Before this last deadly week in the Tahoe region, the ski season had already proved to be deadly in California.

On Feb. 5, a skier died at Mammoth Mountain in full view of other nearby skiers after attempting a run called Dropout 2, which is among the steepest marked trails in California, according to a Los Angeles Times report. He slid hundreds of feet, leaving a bloody trail in view of a nearby chair lift.

The skier was identified as 40-year-old Robert Carroll, according to the New York Post. He was the fourth person to die at Mammoth Mountain this season.

Over the holidays, a ski patroller in Mammoth dwas killed by an avalanche while conducting mitigation work to keep other skiers and snowboardes safe from avalanche danger. Cole Murphy, 30, died from his injuries, ABC7 reported at the time.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.