Guide company leading group caught in deadly avalanche warned of snow conditions days before incident

Just days before a deadly avalanche killed eight backcountry skiers near Tahoe, the guiding company leading the trip warned on social media that unstable snowpack could trigger “unpredictable avalanches.”

Blackbird Mountain Guides posted a video Sunday on Instagram cautioning that recent snow conditions around Tahoe were creating atypical layering in the snowpack — a combination that could lead to abnormal avalanche behavior.

The company was leading 15 backcountry skiers on a three-day trek to the Frog Lake Huts when they were caught in a football field-sized avalanche Tuesday near Castle Peak.

Six people survived. Eight were killed. One skier remains missing and is presumed dead as rescue efforts shift to recovery operations amid continued storm conditions and high avalanche danger.

Three of the four guides leading the trip were among those killed.

The Instagram post, published ahead of a major winter storm expected to dump several feet of snow ...