Sixteen backcountry skiers were caught in an avalanche Tuesday near Lake Tahoe as heavy snow fell across the Sierra Nevada, officials said. At least six survived, but 10 were still unaccounted for as of Tuesday afternoon. The group of skiers – four guides and 12 clients – were in the Castle P eak area near Truckee when the avalanche struck at about 11:30 a.m., the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said. As of Tuesday afternoon, the surviving skiers were awaiting rescue at the avalanche site, the sheriff’s office said. They were told to shelter in place as best they could while rescue teams worked to find them. “There’s no quick way for [the skiers] to come out,” Nevada County sheriff’s Capt. Rusty Greene said. “They’re having to wait there. They have emergency beacons, some of them that communicate via text, so we’re in contact with them and doing our best to get in there.” Nearly 50 first responders were working on the search and rescue operation, according to the sheriff’s office. California is being walloped this week by a powerful winter storm carrying treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas. The sheriff’s office said conditions in the mountains remain “highly dangerous.” An avalanche warning, issued by the Sierra Avalanche Center, was already in effect before the avalanche happened. The dangerous conditions were caused by rapidly accumulating snowfall piling on already fragile snowpack layers coupled with gale-force winds. Bay Area 5 hours ago 3 Bay Area men injured while fixing tire chains on snowy Hwy. 50 near Tahoe bay area weather 8 hours ago Bay Area storm problems: Downed trees, power outages Several ski resorts around Lake Tahoe were fully or partially closed due to the extreme weather. The resorts along highways have avalanche mitigation programs and were not expected to be at as high of a risk as the backcountry where travel in, near, or below the avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, the center said. Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot peak in the Donner Summit area of the Sierra Nevada, is a popular backcountry skiing destination. The Associated Press contributed to this report. ...read more read less