...
By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A group of six mothers who bonded over their love of the outdoors were among the skiers killed in an avalanche near Lake Tahoe on Tuesday, according to family and friends.
In a statement reported by The New York Times, the families confirmed that Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt were among the victims. Sekar, 45, and Clabaugh, 52, were sisters.
"They were all mothers, wives and friends, all of whom connected through the love of the outdoors," the families said. "They were passionate, skilled skiers who cherished time together in the mountains."
Read More on News
According to the families, the women were on a guided, two-night trip to the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts outside Truckee, California, and were all experienced skiers "fully equipped with avalanche safety equipment."
Eight women went on the friends' trip, according to the statement, and two were among the survivors rescued from the avalanche.
What Do We Know So Far
Severe storm conditions between Tuesday and Thursday have made it hard for rescuers to find the victims. As of Thursday night, rescuers had found the bodies of eight skiers killed in the avalanche. Another skier still missing is also presumed dead.
They were all part of a group of 15, including four guides, who had embarked on a multi-day backcountry expedition near Castle Peak, in the Sierra Nevada, according to news reports. Six skiers from the group survived.
Employer Blackbird Mountain Guides confirmed that three of the four guides died in the avalanche. Information provided from the Nevada County's Sheriff Office suggests that three of the six survivors are ski clients, all men.
...
Several skiers in the group were members of the Sugar Bowl Academy community, a private boarding school and ski club near Donner Summit.
The U.S. Forest Service said on Thursday that it would close the Castle Peak area, including the area where the avalanche hit, until March 15 as rescue crews continue looking for the missing skier.
Who Were The Victims
Family and friends of the six women who died in the avalanche said they were "devastated beyond words." Most of them were from the Bay Area or had raised their families there, and went on regular trips together to the Tahoe region.
In a statement to The New York Times, Sekar's husband, Kiren Sekar, spoke of his wife of more than 20 years as an "authentic and unabashedly unfiltered" woman who raised their two children loving the outdoors as well.
"Caroline spent her final days doing what she loved best, with the people who loved her most, in her favorite place," Sekar wrote. "She was with me, her children and our puppy, and then on one last adventure with her sister and close friends, who she now rests with."
Sekar and Clabaugh also had a brother, McAlister Clabaugh, who told the The New York Times that they were "two of the best people I’ve ever known [who were] incredible sisters, mothers, wives and friends [and] the idea that they are both gone is, I don't even know how to put it into words."
Carrie Atkin, 46, was a leadership coach who had lived in the Bay Area before moving to Soda Springs in the Sierra Nevada, as reported by The New York Times. In a statement to the newspaper, her husband said: "The kids and I are shattered by this tragedy. But even in our grief, we are committed to living a life that would make her proud—a life filled with the adventure, kindness and dedication to others that defined her."
According to officials mentioned by The New York Times, the other women in the friends' group were from Marin County, California, just north of San Francisco. These include Morse, 45, who worked in biotechnology, according to her LinkedIn, Keatley, 44, who worked in the wine business, and Vitt, 43, worked as a vice president of product operations and customer success at SiriusXM.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines