Truckee Avalanche - one dies

“TRUCKEE, Calif. - Gerilyn Marie Ewing had all the right equipment and plenty of experience when she and 10 others set out for a cross-country skiing trip. But it wasn't enough to save her from an avalanche.



Ewing, 45, was killed Sunday on rugged federal forest land north of Lake Tahoe that is marked off by signs cautioning skiers of danger, authorities said. Two members of the party escaped the slide.


The avalanche carried the Reno, Nev.-area woman several hundred feet through trees, said Randall Osterhuber, a rescue team director.


"She was pretty beat up," he said.


Her body was recovered Sunday afternoon, said sheriff's Sgt. Dave Wells.


As much as 20 inches of snow had fallen in the area during the weekend storm. "It's really rough terrain" and a "very dangerous avalanche area," Wells said.


Ewing's longtime boyfriend, Jerry Puryear, told the San Francisco Chronicle that members of the group were equipped for a backcountry excursion, and each member had an avalanche locator beacon, a shovel and a probe.


"I think everything was done right. All the safety precautions were in place," he said. "It's one of those awful, awful accidents."


Puryear said he was dug out of the snow after five minutes by group member Yale Spina, who had spotted his glove above the packed snow.


"He got to me just before I was gone," Puryear said. "People performed under the pressure like they should have. It wasn't a case ... where something happened and no one knew what to do."


The group had skied into an area popular with backcountry enthusiasts, said Greg Murtha, director of marketing for Sugar Bowl ski resort. He said the boundary between the resort and federal Forest Service land is marked with signs warning: "You are now leaving ski resort boundaries. Leave at your own risk."”

“Very, very sad.”