Newly released images lay bare the devastating impact of the horrific avalanche that barreled down a Lake Tahoe-area mountainside and buried eight mothers alive, in one of the deadliest backcountry disasters in California history.
The haunting photographs, released by the Sierra Avalanche Center, show the scarred slope at Castle Peak where a powerful ‘storm slab’ fractured without warning and roared 400 vertical feet down the mountain.
The images, together with detailed incident maps and timelines, underscore the sheer force of the snowslide that killed nine skiers and sent shockwaves through the tight-knit Sierra community.
According to the center’s report, a group of 15 backcountry skiers was below Perry’s Peak at around 11:30am on February 17 when the avalanche broke loose on a north to northwest-facing slope at 8,260 feet.
Classified as ‘large’ on the danger scale, the slide completely buried 12 members of the party.
Three skiers who escaped the clutches of the avalanche and were not buried immediately began digging in a desperate race against time.
They managed to pull out three people before professional rescuers could reach the remote terrain. But the scale of the disaster quickly became apparent.
Search and rescue teams arrived later on Tuesday afternoon, battling high-intensity storm conditions as daylight faded.
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Perrys Peak at 8320ft. The site of the avalanche that occurred on Tuesday February 17, 2026
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Helicopters operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Company were deployed with 5,500-pound, 660-gallon water buckets.
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This is the slope where the Perry’s Peak Avalanche occurred on Tuesday, February 17. The photo was taken three days after the avalanche on February 20. By that time, the storm had covered up any signs of the avalanche or its debris. The photo was taken prior to mitigation efforts on the slope
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Crews worked into the night, excavating eight of the nine deceased victims while evacuating six survivors under their own power to Frog Lake Huts.
From there, the survivors were transported for medical care, according to the avalanche center’s report.
After the storm subsided, avalanche mitigation operations began on February 20.
Helicopters operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Company were deployed with 5,500-pound, 660-gallon water buckets.
The buckets were dragged across the slope and used for full-load water drops in multiple areas in an effort to stabilize the fragile snowpack and prevent further slides.
Only after those mitigation efforts could rescuers safely continue.
Five additional bodies were recovered, and another buried victim was located before nightfall.
Rescue operations concluded on Saturday February 21 with the retrieval of the final four victims.
