The devastating truth behind the deaths of nine skiers caught in February’s deadly avalanche near Lake Tahoe has finally been revealed.

All nine victims died from asphyxiation after being buried beneath roughly five to six feet of snow, according to newly released coroner’s reports.

The disclosure came Thursday as the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office announced it had completed its investigation into whether criminal negligence played a role in the catastrophic avalanche. Investigators have now forwarded their findings to the county prosecutor for review.

The tragedy unfolded on Feb. 17, when a 15-person backcountry skiing group was caught in a massive avalanche near Castle Peak during an exceptionally powerful winter storm.

Among those in the group were six clients and three guides associated with Blackbird Mountain Guides. Another five people — including a guide and four clients — ultimately survived the disaster.

Before the group entered the backcountry, snow forecasters had issued a serious warning urging people to stay away because avalanche conditions were considered extremely dangerous.

Despite the warning, the group traveled toward an area near Perry’s Peak, where unstable snow had accumulated on the mountain.

Then the slope gave way.

A massive section of snow, estimated at around 100 feet wide, broke loose and swept approximately 400 feet down the mountain.

The avalanche buried nearly the entire group, leaving only two people initially able to avoid being trapped.

The survivors immediately began digging through the enormous debris field in an attempt to locate their companions.

They managed to free four people from the snow.

But as conditions deteriorated and the blizzard intensified, rescuers and survivors were forced to confront the grim reality that they could no longer reach everyone buried beneath the avalanche.

Their focus shifted toward protecting themselves and keeping two injured survivors alive.

An incident report later released by the Sierra Avalanche Center — the organization that had issued the avalanche warning — concluded that the group had violated avalanche safety protocols while attempting to leave the backcountry.

The first search-and-rescue crews eventually arrived at the scene at approximately 5:36 p.m., hours after authorities received the initial report of the avalanche around 11:30 a.m.

Rescuers worked through the snow and succeeded in recovering eight victims that evening.

But the relentless storm made the operation increasingly dangerous.

With heavy snow continuing to fall, rescuers eventually placed the recovered bodies together beneath a tarp. They recorded the location using GPS coordinates and marked the area with long poles commonly used during avalanche searches.

The recovery effort finally ended around 10 p.m.

Then the weather shut down further operations.

The powerful blizzard prevented rescuers from returning to the site for two days.

On Feb. 20, teams were finally able to reach the avalanche area again.

They recovered the eight bodies that had been secured earlier and located the ninth victim who had remained buried.

All nine victims were then transported by helicopter to Frog Lake Huts, the remote backcountry lodging where the group had stayed for two nights before the avalanche struck.

From there, the bodies were transported by snowcat and taken to a mortuary in Truckee.

Months after the tragedy, the newly released coroner’s reports have provided the clearest account yet of what happened to the victims beneath the snow.

The reports, released Thursday with portions redacted, list asphyxiation caused by snow burial as the cause of death for all nine skiers.

The documents do not publicly provide the full details regarding the condition of the victims, as portions of those sections were redacted.

The revelation brings a grim conclusion to a disaster that unfolded in a matter of minutes but left rescuers, families and the backcountry community dealing with its consequences for months.

The sheriff’s investigation into possible criminal negligence is now complete, with prosecutors set to review the findings.

Source: nypost.com