Pressed at a news conference about why the chairlifts were running despite the storm warnings, the Vice President of Mountain Operations at Palisades Tahoe resort said it was normal to operate during such conditions and that avalanche mitigation strategies had been in place.
‘‘Based on our expertise and experience and history we deemed conditions safe,” said Michael Gross, explaining that patrols had been checking the slopes since Sunday and that the resort had consulted forecasters before opening the chairlifts on Wednesday.
‘‘The people who are doing the [avalanche mitigation] work are truly experts in their field.”
Dee Byrne, the president and chief operating officer of the resort, said it was a “dynamic situation” and investigations were underway.
‘‘It’s a very sad day for my team,” Ms Byrne said.
‘‘Our condolences to the victim, the victim’s family and to everyone else involved.”
The man who died was a resort guest who was a visitor to the region, officials said. They declined to provide further details until all of his family could be notified.
The mountain was closed for the rest of the day on Wednesday.
A search and rescue operation involving over 100 personnel had concluded that no one else was trapped by the avalanche, the sheriff’s office said.