By GODOFREDO VASQUEZ, JULIE WATSON and HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press
SODA SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Crews hope to resume efforts Friday to recover the bodies of eight people killed and one still missing in an avalanche in California’s Sierra Nevada after days of dangerous weather that has hampered safe access to the area.
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 Thursday. The three others who are dead or presumed dead were guides.
“We are devastated beyond words,” the families said in a statement released 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.
The names of the other victims have not been released.
Two from the group of friends survived and were rescued along with four others, including a guide.
Avalanche warnings were set to expire early Friday, and dryer and milder conditions were predicted for the weekend, according to the Sierra Avalanche Center.
The slide is the deadliest in the U.S. since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier in Washington state.
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.
What the guides and their tour company knew about the warnings and why they pressed on is now part of investigations by local authorities and a state agency that regulates workplace safety.
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 instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education. While in the field, guides “are in communication with senior guides at our base, to discuss conditions and routing based upon conditions,” founder Zeb Blais said in a statement.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said some of his wife’s “old family friends” were on the trip. The Newsoms have a home in Marin County, where some of the people on the trip lived. His office did not immediately provide more details.
“These were some experienced guides that were out there, and that’s what’s even more concerning and disturbing,” he said at a news conference Thursday.
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, and Liz Clabaugh worked for St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, Idaho, according to her LinkedIn page.
Vitt lived in San Francisco and worked previously at SiriusXM and Pandora, according to her LinkedIn page. The Kentfield School District sent an email to families Wednesday saying that her two sons “are safe and are with their father, Geoff, as they navigate this profound loss,” according to The New York Times.
Atkin lived with her husband and two children and was a former corporate executive and Division I Track & Field athlete, according to her leadership coaching website.
Some members of the group had ties to the elite Sugar Bowl Academy, a private boarding and day school for competitive skiers and snowboarders whose former students include multiple Olympians.
One of the victims was married to a member of a backcountry search and rescue team in the area, Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said.
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Watson reported from San Diego, and Golden from Seattle. Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana; R.J. Rico in Atlanta; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.