By: Isabella Langner and Megan Saul

Public-Relations Manager and Media-Production Editor

On Jan. 10, an avalanche struck ski resort Palisades Tahoe, causing one fatality — 66-year-old Kenneth Kidd — and multiple injuries. The avalanche occurred at around 9:30 AM, on the first day this season that Palisades Tahoe opened the KT-22 chairlift. The cause of the avalanche is still unknown, but Palisades officials reported that they did not bomb the run with explosives the day of the avalanche, explaining that they generally refrain from bombing when there is light snowfall. A few days earlier, a winter storm blew through the area, increasing the chances of an avalanche. 

Jason Parker was skiing with his fiancé when the avalanche occurred. He didn’t hear any noises indicating an avalanche, but as he continued down the mountain he recalled, “I just felt the snow hit me … it flipped me onto my back.” While caught in the snow, Parker yelled so that others around him knew approximately where he would end up. As he did not have a beacon on him, his yelling potentially saved his life, helping rescuers find him under four feet of snow. At 55 years old, Parker has been skiing for about 35 years and frequently skied in the back country. Due to his experience, he learned how to handle avalanches. He spent about ten minutes buried in multiple feet of snow until rescuers found him. 

The ski patrol, as well as over 100 Palisades Tahoe personnel and other skiers and snowboarders helped search for others buried under the snow. Officials said that four people, including Parker and Kidd, got caught in the avalanche. Parker said, “It weighed on me all last night. I barely got any sleep. … Going back and forth about how lucky I was and how he wasn’t. It’s basically just a miracle to not hit anything on the way down in an area that has trees, cliffs, not hurt myself too bad and then get buried.”

The avalanche also trapped Janet He. She and her husband, Joseph Lu, were among the first people on the lift that morning. When the avalanche occurred, she fell about 200 feet down the mountain and the avalanche buried her underneath heavy snow. She said, “I couldn’t pull myself up because the snow was so heavy on top of me. I was buried, my face buried in the snow. I’m lucky I had the face mask, I had some air in the face mask.” Luckily, a skier heard her screams and pulled her from the snow. 

Another avalanche occurred the day after in the Wolverine Bowl area. It spanned about 150 feet and was eight feet deep. Palisades spokesperson announced the closing of the investigation after determining that there were no fatalities. Sophomore Lily Bell traveled to Tahoe the weekend following the two avalanches. She shared, “I just went up and it was snowing on and off. It was super fun skiing with all of the snow, but it was so scary thinking about the storms.” 

(Sources: LA Times, Mercury News, NBC News, San Francisco Chronicle)