‘They were mothers, wives, friends’: how a ski trip turned deadly in the California mountains

A picture is emerging of one of the worst avalanche disasters in US history, and the women among a tight-knit group of friends who died The ringing of a phone echoed through the Nevada county, California, sheriff’s office just before noon on 17 February. The 911 call brought devastating news: an avalanche had occurred on nearby Castle Peak – a 9,110ft (2,780-meter) mountain north of the Donner summit in the Lake Tahoe area. A group of backcountry skiers had been on the mountainside, returning...

By Cecilia Nowell