A Terrifying, Deadly Avalanche Struck Northern California In 1982 And No One Saw It Coming
By Jill S.|Published December 22, 2016
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Jill S.
Author
Jill is a freelance writer from a small Northern California town and lives in the Sierra Nevada mountains. If you have an idea for an Only In Northern California story, email her at jsanford@onlyinyourstate.com.
Most of Northern California doesn’t see too much snow, but the parts that do are constantly at risk of unstable snow that causes avalanches. Many readers might remember the tragic 1982 avalanche at Alpine Meadows that took 7 lives and injured 5 others, including a woman who was trapped below the snow’s surface for 5 days but still managed to survive.
On March 31, 1982, Alpine Meadows Ski Resort was closed due to the heavy storms that had been hitting this area, which is located about 5 miles from the northwest shore of Lake Tahoe. The only people in the area were primarily employees in the parking lot and the resort's buildings.
Ski Patrollers were approaching the higher elevations of the resort to set off bombs that would control avalanches in this area, so they knew that that danger was high this day.
After receiving 17 inches of snow the night before, safety crews were on high alert. Before they could control the avalanche danger in the area, a slide was triggered around 4:00 in the afternoon.
The debris came sliding into the resort's lodge and parking area, totally decimating some of the buildings. 12 people and one dog were caught in the avalanche. 3 people were recovered almost immediately in the parking area, and the dog survived after being found a day later.
Unfortunately three of the seven people who were inside the Summit building were killed by the avalanche. Avalanche dangers were still high, so rescuers had to make the tough decision to suspend the search for fear of their own safety. They couldn't help any potential survivors if they too were caught in another avalanche.
Survivor Anna (Conrad) Allen was a UC Davis student and Alpine Meadows employee at the time. She was walking along a hallway towards staff locker rooms at the time the avalanche struck. We was knocked unconscious but woke up surrounded by debris and snow, not knowing what had happened. She sucked on snow and mud for sustenance and waited for search and rescue to find her.
After finding other bodies, rescuers had all but given up hope they would find Anna alive until they spotted her hand moving after clearing some of the debris. They pulled her out of the wreckage and even though she lost part of her leg and toes to frostbite, she still skis with a prosthetic leg and works in the ski industry. She had been buried beneath the snow for 5 days.
The avalanche expanded people's awareness of this natural disaster. Even inside out of the storm, people are not safe from catastrophic avalanches. It was an important learning experience for ski patrollers across the country and one of the most deadly avalanches in bounds at a ski resort, especially considering that Alpine Meadows was closed to the public that day.
This ski patroller's hut at Alpine Meadows shows safety personnel are always watching out for avalanche danger and protecting not only skiers at the resort, but the surrounding communities and travelers in the area.
Where were you when this tragedy struck the North Tahoe area? You can read a full report of the incident on Avalanche.org and an account of Anna’s experience trapped beneath the snow here.
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