Planned avalanche turns deadly, killing ski patrol veteran

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A veteran member of the ski patrol team died at a Lake Tahoe area ski resort Monday while doing avalanche control work.

Bill Foster, 53, had 28 years of experience with the ski patrol and was buried in snow at the Alpine Meadows Resort near Truckee.

The slide was set with an explosive device by a senior member of the ski patrol team as part of an effort to prevent random avalanches.

The avalanche broke much higher and wider on the slope than in past snow safety missions, the resort said.

Foster was found in about a minute and uncovered within eight minutes.

Members of the ski patrol team performed CPR before he was taken to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada.

Also Monday, an avalanche at the neighboring Donner Ski Ranch killed Steven Mark Anderson, 49, of Truckee, who was buried while snowboarding. A search dog found his body under two to three feet of snow.

Tahoe-area resorts received at least three feet of snow in a series of storms from Friday through Sunday.

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-- KTLA News