California Ski Resort Reopens After Deadly Avalanche - The Messenger
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California Ski Resort Reopens After Deadly Avalanche

Kenneth Kidd, 66, was skiing in an area served by the KT-22 lift when the avalanche hit, killing him and injuring three others

The ski lift at Palisades Tahoe closed Wednesday after an avalanche occurred.AP Photo/Andy Barron

The famed California ski resort Palisades Tahoe partially reopened on Thursday, one day after a 66-year-old died in an avalanche that hit the slopes.

Kenneth Kidd, 66, was skiing in an area served by the KT-22 lift when the avalanche hit, killing him and injuring three others.

The avalanche left behind a debris field around 150 ft wide and 450 ft long.

KT-22 remained closed Thursday as crews continued to clear snow. It had just opened for the season 30 minutes before the avalanche hit.

Palisades Tahoe, in Olympic Valley, Calif., was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics and said it does extensive modeling and forecasting to make sure its slopes are safe before opening them.

“We’ve got decades worth of weather data that we’re always resourcing or referencing, so looking at current forecasts, looking at all different models, looking at wind speed, snow density, wind direction,” Michael Gross, the vice president of mountain operations, said Wednesday.

The resort saw a particularly deadly avalanche in 1982 that killed seven people. More recently, a 2020 avalanche killed one skier and injured another person.

With The Associated Press.

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