A snowmobiler has died after falling an estimated 900 feet from a collapsing cornice outside Truckee over the weekend.
The accident happened Saturday at Frog Lake Cliffs in Nevada County, said the Sierra Avalanche Center. According to a post, the victim was part of a group of three people who snowmobiled to the top the cliff.
With poor visibility listed as a factor, the victim "stepped off their sled not realizing how close they were to the overhanging cornice on the edge of the ridge."
The 40-foot section then broke off underneath him, and he fell onto the slope below before a resulting avalanche swept the victim "over cliffs and through rocks and chutes." He wasn’t buried by the avalanche, though a witness to the incident administered CPR and was unable to save the victim from his "traumatic injuries."
The area is located just west of the Tahoe-Donner Downhill Ski Resort.
The Nevada County Sheriff's Office is withholding the victim's name pending notification of next of kin.
The other two snowmobilers were not hurt.
Several agencies assisted in the response.
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