Snowboarder dies in avalanche at Lake Tahoe-area resort
YouTube/KCRA.com
A man has died after being buried in an avalanche while snowboarding at a Sierra ski resort in California.
Steven Mark Anderson, 49, from Hirschdale, California, died at the Donner Ski Ranch, about 90 miles north east of Sacramento, after storms dumped up to three feet of fresh snow.
According to the NY Daily News, the Nevada County Sheriff's Department received a call about the missing man at midday on Monday, three ours after the avalanche had occurred.
Deputy David Lade said it had taken that long for his friends to realise he was missing, as they had not been skiing together as a group.
A search dog found Mr Anderson's body at about 1.30pm on Monday, under two to three feet of snow.
YouTube/KCRA.com
According to the Daily Mail, Lade said the wind had blown snow to depths of seven feet or more where the man was snowboarding, which was inside the ski area's boundaries near the main lodge.
Anderson was believed to be the only person caught in the slide, Lade said.
Other Tahoe-area ski resorts have been hit by avalanche accidents. A veteran ski patroller at Alpine Meadows died after being buried in a slide that had been intentionally set with an explosive device.
According to ABC News, a resort statement said: "The charge triggered the avalanche, which broke much higher and wider on the slope than previously observed in past snow safety missions."
Bill Foster, 53, died at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno,where he was taken after the avalanche on Monday.
Resort spokeswoman Amelia Richmond said she did not know whether Foster, a 28-year veteran with the resort's ski patrol team, died on Monday night or Tuesday.
Mr Foster was uncovered within eight minutes. Members of the ski patrol team performed CPR before he was taken to the hospital.
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