
What causes avalanches and how can you survive them? A physicist explains after the Palisades Tahoe disaster
CBSN
Nathalie Vriend is an associate professor of thermo fluid sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
An avalanche swept up skiers at Lake Tahoe's largest ski resort on Jan. 10, 2024, as a 150-foot-wide sheet of snow slid down a mountain slope into a pile 10 feet deep. One person died in the avalanche and three others were rescued, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office in Auburn, California. The slide happened in steep terrain near the KT-22 chairlift, which had just opened for the season that morning.

Barry Morphew, a longtime suspect in his wife's disappearance and murder, was arrested in Arizona on June 20, 2025, two days after he was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the case of his wife Suzanne Morphew's death. This was the second time Barry Morphew has been arrested and charged in her death. The initial charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning authorities reserved the right to charge him again.