7PM UPDATE: The man who died has been identified by his family as Frederic Dross of South Lake Tahoe. A GoFundMe has been set up – more information can be found at https://southtahoenow.com/02/18/2025/gofundme-set-up-for-south-lake-tahoe-man-who-died-in-avalanche.
EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. – The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office (EDSO) Search and Rescue team is out at the scene of an avalanche that took the life of a backcountry skier. The initial EDSO report says a man was in the backcountry off of Luther Pass near Grass Lake on Monday, February 17, and was overdue at home. His wife found his car parked on SR89. Friends of the missing person were able to find him, but conditions were unsafe for retrieval of his body, according to EDSO Captain Michael Lansing.
On Tuesday morning, EDSO Search and Rescue returned to the area of Powderhouse Peak Tuesday morning to plan on getting the deceased person out of the area. Powderhouse is just noth of Waterhouse Peak and a popular backcountry recreation area.
This is a developing story and no other information is available. This story will be updated when new details are released.
The Sierra Avalanche Center (SAC) said the current conditions in the Sierra are a “complex avalanche situation.” They said a “persistent slab avalanche” was reported from Powderhouse Peak in the Luther Pass Area yesterday. They didn’t have much information yet, but said it occurred at the 8800′ level.
“Another large persistent slab avalanche yesterday confirms that the snowpack does not stabilize at the same rate in all locations,” SAC said. “While this layer is becoming stubborn and harder to trigger, large persistent slab avalanches with severe consequences remain possible. Large avalanches remain possible today failing several feet below the snow surface and breaking wider than expected. Sunny skies and warmer temperatures will form areas of wet snow as daytime warming occurs. Plan travel with the mindset that a large and wide avalanche could occur.