All nine avalanche victims have been recovered from California’s Sierra Nevada, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said Saturday at a news conference.
The bodies were recovered after a Black Hawk helicopter on Saturday flew to the snowy, mountainous region where a fatal avalanche struck this week. Eight of the victims were found on Tuesday, and the remaining victim was discovered and recovered on Saturday.
Among those who died were six women who were close friends and experienced skiers, along with three professional guides. Six others on the trip survived the avalanche, the deadliest in the U.S. since 1981.
Brutal weather and the threat of more avalanches had kept crews from safely recovering the bodies from the avalanche, which was roughly the size of a football field.Â
A temporary flight restriction over the site of the avalanche, which bars drones and all other unauthorized aircraft from flying in the area, was extended to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Officials said on Friday that they were using water to break up the snow in the area as avalanche mitigation work, a technique that is designed to intentionally release unstable snowpack to reduce the risk when rescue crews go in.
The mitigation and search efforts have included California Highway Patrol air operations, Nevada County Sheriff’s search and rescue, Tahoe Nordic search and rescue, the utility company Pacific Gas & Electric, the Sierra avalanche center and others.