Officials have confirmed that they have located eight deceased, with one additional person presumed dead, during search and rescue efforts for a group of 15 skiers following an avalanche in California.

The survivors and deceased

There were 15 people in total forming part of the group of skiers following a clarification that one person had backed out of the trip at the last moment. Six survivors have been rescued, eight others have been found deceased and the last individual is presumed dead. The survivors and the bodies of the deceased were all found close together.

Today's conference also outlined that one of the deceased is a spouse of a search and rescue team member - other details have been given on the genders of the group but no identities have been released to the public yet.

The search and rescue efforts

Officials today confirmed that the mission has turned from rescue to recovery - with those individuals remaining on the mountain either deceased or presumed deceased.

The eight deceased remain in the avalanche area although rescuers have sought to move them to a space from where they can be more readily recovered.

The current conditions

The rescue team has had to take a "slow and steady" pace with difficult conditions and a continued high risk of avalanche.

The original avalanche stemmed from a persistent weak layer which had a large load of snow on it. This layer has since reloaded with snow and the hazard remains high, the conference was told.

We are concluding our live coverage now.

You can read more here: Eight skiers found dead after California avalanche

With a confirmed death toll of at least eight people, Tuesday's avalanche stands as one of the deadliest seen in California.

A previous tragedy in 2008 saw three men killed by an avalanche near Wrightwood, in the San Gabriel Mountains, while skiing near the Mountain High resort.

And back in 1982, seven people were killed in an avalanche at the Alpine Meadows resort in North Lake Tahoe, in what was described at the time as the deadliest avalanche in the modern history of California.

Image source, Reuters

To recap what we learned today, six people from the group of 15 were rescued. One was a guide and the rest were clients, and their ages ranged from 30 and 55.

The survivors had sent SOS alerts after the avalanche and rescuers were able to be in contact with them over text message. They also had emergency beacons.

Two of the survivors were sent to hospital. One has been released and the other is still being treated for non life-threatening injuries.

Officials said rescue workers were making preparations to recover the deceased, but the conditions remained dangerous, and they need to consider the safety of the emergency workers. The avalanche covered an area the length of a football field, officials said.

Most of the rescuers are volunteers and it was revealed that one of the skiers who died is the spouse of one of the search and rescue team members, making it particularly challenging for the team.

Don O'Keefe from California's Office of Emergency Services praised the heroism of the rescue volunteers, while Sheriff Wayne Woo said they were "selfless servants" who put themselves in harm's way when needed.

Image source, Reuters

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center collates figures of avalanche fatalities each year across the US.

Before the incident in California this week, so far, for the 2025-2026 winter, six fatalities have been recorded - compared with a total of 22 in 2024-25 and 16 in 2023-24.

"Over the last 10 winters, an average of 27 people died in avalanches each winter in the United States," the Center says.

It adds that almost every fatal accident is investigated and reported.

Sheriff Moon concludes the conference paying tribute to the "incredible" group of men and women who volunteer to be part of the search and rescue team that respond "day and night" to calls.

She calls last night's conditions "horrific" - adding that "it's a known area where we have a lot of search and rescue missions".

The team trains in the area so knows the terrain but adds "that doesn't make it easier for them [with] the snow and wind conditions" - later saying the temperature had to have been "well below freezing".

"Our mission now is to get [those that didn't make it'] home," she says.

Image source, Reuters

Officials are asked how the survivors were able to make contact with rescuers. They received SOS alerts from phones and an emergency beacon.

They say rescuers were able to text with some of those who had survived the avalanche.

Sheriff Shannan Moon takes over again and says the remaining missing person is presumed dead.

She tells reporters that of the nine people who died on the mountain, seven are female and two are men. It's presumed three guides are dead.

They aren't releasing the genders of the guides who have died yet but she says the sole surviving guide of the four on the trip is male.

Asked more about the timeline, she says the six who were rescued had already found three of the deceased.

Once search and rescue were on scene, they located the remaining deceased.

Image source, Reuter

Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo now takes a question about one of the deceased being a spouse of a member of the search and rescue team.

He responds by saying that everyone has "circled around" - and that this has also motivated the team to go out and rescue those that are still alive as well as to now recover those who have died.

Woo acknowledges there has been an "emotional impact" but adds there is still a job to do and that the team will be "side by side" with families until the end when "every last soul" is off the mountain.

A journalist asks Sheriff Moon if it puts search and rescue teams in danger when outdoor enthusiasts make the decision to go out when they know the forecast.

Moon replies absolutely, and says rescue teams have to reach people before they can rescue people. The risk is high with the mission moving to recovery. Many of the rescuers are volunteers, and they want to make sure the first responders are safe.

The recovery team is looking at the forecast and making sure they’ll do it as safely as possible.

Russell Greene, who led the rescue operation, says the eight who have died are still in the avalanche area. They have not able to move them but rescuers have done their best to put them in an area where they can be found and recovered when weather conditions improve on the mountain.

Earlier, he said the possibility of more snow reburying the bodies and potentially putting rescuers in danger was a consideration in how the operation was moving forward.

Image source, Reuters

Sheriff Shannan Moon says the deceased come from "multiple different states" when asked to give more information on the victims.

She says as soon as they can get information out they will, but the families are the priority in this situation.

Moon is asked whether the main question is should the group have gone on the trip in the first place or have stayed in the cabin instead of attempting to return on Tuesday. She says those are both great questions.

She passes on to Capt Russell Greene, who says the surviving group was "fairly close together" and the bodies that were recovered were also "fairly close together".

Those that survived reported that someone saw the avalanche, "yelled avalanche, then it overtook them fairly quickly".

The speakers are now taking questions, with the first being around cautionary messaging ahead of storms which are forecast and what can be done to prevent disasters like this happening.

Sheriff Moon responds by explaining there were a lot of forecasts ahead of this storm and that they are still in conversations with the guide company as to their decision factors.

She adds that the backcountry is "beautiful" but asks people to heed warnings - adding that resources are also needed to respond to emergencies and that people's decisions may not only affect themselves.

Chris Feutrier, the Forest Supervisor for the Tahoe National Forest, says the avalanche was a football field in length.

It resulted from a persistent weak layer which had a large load of snow over the top of it.

That layer has reloaded with more snow and the hazard remains high, he says.

Before Feutrier spoke, Don O'Keefe from California's Office of Emergency Services offers condolences to families of whose who have died and credits the heroism of rescue volunteers.

He says his office received an alert about the incident including a request for specialised equipment to help with rescue.

State officials had been communicating and coordinating with local officials on the ground, he adds.

Sheriff Wayne Woo, from Placer County, speaks now. He says they work closely with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

He says their Nordic Search and Rescue team responded with two snow cats and 28 members of the team.

Woo describes them as "selfless servants" who "put themselves in harm's way" when they are needed.

One of the skiers that has been confirmed dead is the spouse of one of the search and rescue team members, he says, which has been "challenging" for the team.

He urges the public to avoid the Sierras, mountain travel and the backcountry, while the weather is bad in the next few days. This will help them be able to focus on recovering the bodies, he adds.

Image source, Reuters

Moon continues and underlines the incident remains "ongoing" but that the focus is now on recovery.

She stresses that the snow and weather conditions are creating issues.

Moon adds that officials have spoken with families and informed them that the mission has turned from rescue to recovery - explaining that she can't imagine the questions they have and the stress they are going through.

She concludes by issuing some public safety reminders - including telling people to check avalanche forecasts, avoid high risk areas and always communicate plans.

Eight of the nine other skiers are deceased, Sheriff Moon says.

Rescuers are still looking for the remaining missing person.

Of the two people that were injured out of the survivors, one was stabilised and released from hospital and one is still being treated in hospital - both with non life threatening injuries.

She says the guide company has been very cooperative.

The cause of death of those who died is not yet been confirmed as they still have to get to the deceased, Moon says.

Sheriff Moon says rescuers skied into the scene of the avalanche where they were able to locate six survivors.

At the time, they had already been searching for their teammates, Moon says, before adding that some of those rescued were unable to walk.

One man and five women were rescued with their ages ranging from 30 to 55. Of the survivors, one was a guide and the remaining were clients.

Image source, Reuters

Sheriff Shannan Moon says that "highly skilled rescue teams" departed on Tuesday to help rescue the missing skiers.

There were two different teams with roughly 50 skilled people in total heading to the scene, she explains.

Moon says "extreme weather conditions" would be an "understatement" and the workers had to take a "slow and steady pace" as the area is still high danger for an avalanche.

It took a while to get the equipment to the location, before they could deploy people into the back country, she says.

She says she "can't stress that enough" that her staff and volunteers were safe in getting to the location.

They knew they had six survivors based on information that they were getting through iPhone SOS, and had conversations with them, she adds.

Nevada County Sheriff's Office's Sheriff Shannan Moon begins the conference setting out that this is one of the more "major" cases the agency has been involved with in the last several years.

She points out that it is an "ongoing" incident and underlines that with such situations some facts do change.

One example being that initially it had been thought that 16 people were on the trip in total - 12 guests and four guides.

It has since become clear that one person due to go on the trip had backed out at the last minute - meaning there were only 11 clients who went on the three day trip.

Yesterday was their final day, she adds, and they were coming back to the trail head when the avalanche occured.

The Nevada County Sheriff's Office has just started giving a press briefing on the latest situation regarding search efforts for the nine skiers who remain missing.

You can watch the briefing by clicking Watch liveabove or we will bringing you the latest updates here in the page as we hear them.