Avalanche at Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort Draws Emergency Response

An avalanche has closed a popular ski resort in Lake Tahoe in California, the authorities said on Wednesday, but it was not immediately clear if there were any injuries or people missing.

“Our patrol and mountain operations teams are performing a search at this time,” Palisades Tahoe, the ski resort, said in a statement. “Both sides of our mountain will be closed for the day.”

The avalanche occurred around 9:30 a.m., the resort said in a post on social media. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said it was responding but did not immediately provide additional details.

According to the Sierra Avalanche Center, there was a risk of an avalanche on Wednesday and Thursday, as a major storm moved across the region.

The resort, in Olympic Valley, Calif., opened in 1949 and hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics. It is the largest ski resort in the snow-rich Lake Tahoe region, with 6,000 skiable acres across two mountains, according to its website. On average, it receives about 400 inches of snow annually.

The resort adopted its current name in 2021 after acknowledging that its former name, Squaw Valley, included a “racist and sexist slur” whose use is “contrary to our company’s values.”

This is a developing story.