Officials work to lower risk of deadly slides to recover bodies of California avalanche victims

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TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) — Officials worked to lower the risks of more deadly slides Friday in the area where an avalanche struck in California’s Sierra Nevada so crews could safely recover the bodies of the people killed.

Rescue crews loaded up a snow vehicle with skis and other supplies and headed toward the area near Castle Peak, northwest of Lake Tahoe, while helicopters circled overhead. Avalanche mitigation work is designed to intentionally release unstable snowpack to reduce the risk when rescue crews go in.

The Nevada County Sheriff’s office previously said the mitigation work would include controlled explosions, but later said Friday’s efforts only involved using water to break up snow. The work was done in partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric.

Brutal weather and the threat of more avalanches have kept crews from safely recovering the bodies of the eight people killed and another still missing from Tuesday’s avalanche, which was roughly the size of a football field.

Authorities are investigating the avalanche, including whether criminal negligence played a role in the tragedy, a sheriff’s office leading one of several investigations said Friday.

Why the tour company that organized the backcountry ski trip didn't cancel in the face of a powerful storm and what their guides knew as the weather worsened are the questions being considered.

Both the Nevada County Sheriff’s office and a state agency that regulates workplace safety have opened investigations. Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson with the sheriff's office, declined on Friday to share more information, saying it is an open investigation.

Six of the people who died were part of a close-knit group of friends who were experienced backcountry skiers and knew how to navigate the alpine wilderness, their families said. The three others who are dead or presumed dead were guides.

“We are devastated beyond words,” the families said in a statement released Thursday through a spokesperson. The women were mothers, wives and friends who “connected through the love of the outdoors,” they said, and were carrying avalanche safety equipment and prepared for backcountry travel.

The six were identified as Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt, and they lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, in Idaho and in the Lake Tahoe area. The families asked for privacy while they grieve.

Just north of San Francisco, where Keatley lived with her family in the city of Larkspur, resident Rob Bramble was shocked to learn that the friendly woman he would say hello to in passing was among the victims.

“She was just a great mom. I’d always see her with the kids, picking them up, just seemed like a great mom and a great family,” said Bramble, whose daughter babysat for the family a few times.

Keatley and her husband owned a wine business and often shared their namesake wines at community events, Larkspur Mayor Stephanie Andre said.

“She was warm, kind and exuded a special quality that drew people to her,” Andre said in a statement.

Morse also lived with her husband and three children north of San Francisco, and worked in the biotech industry, according to her LinkedIn profile. Vitt previously worked at SiriusXM and Pandora, according to her online profile, and lived north of the city with her two sons and husband.

Atkin was a former corporate executive who lived in Lake Tahoe with her husband and two children, according to her leadership coaching website. She's a talented student who could “run like the wind” and made it to state finals for hurdling two years in a row, recalled Jerome Bearden, her high school hurdling coach. She later had a track and field scholarship to Harvard.

“Everybody liked Carrie,” said Bearden, who heard about her death from a former student on Friday. “She was a good person.”

Sekar and Clabaugh were sisters, their brother, McAlister Clabaugh, told The New York Times. Sekar was a mother of two who lived in San Francisco.

Liz Clabaugh was a nurse who oversaw a new graduate nursing residency program at St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, Idaho. She was also a mom and ran a Facebook page featuring encouragement and advice for new nurses. Photos showed that her family were frequent adventurers outdoors.

Clabaugh also had served as a health volunteer in Zambia with the Peace Corps, according to a Facebook page for Peace Corps alumni.

The names of the other victims have not been released.

The 15 skiers began their three-day trip Sunday, just as warnings about the storm were intensifying. By early Tuesday, officials cautioned that avalanches were expected.

Avalanche safety experts say it is not uncommon for backcountry skiers to go out when there is an avalanche watch or even a warning.

Blackbird Mountain Guides, which was leading the expedition, said the guides who were on the trek were trained or certified in backcountry skiing and were instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.

“We don’t have all the answers yet, and it may be some time before we do,” founder Zeb Blais said in a statement. “In the meantime, please keep those impacted in your hearts.”

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

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This story has been corrected to show that Friday’s avalanche mitigation efforts used water, not controlled explosives as the Nevada County Sheriff’s office had previously indicated.

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Watson reported from San Diego and Har from Marin County, California. Associated Press writers Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Jessica Hill in Las Vegas; and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed.