A skier who was caught in an avalanche in Alpine Meadows, Calif., died late Thursday, NBC station KCRA reported.
The 29-year-old man had been skiing with two other people in rugged terrain when they were hit by a wave of snow, sheriff's officials said.
One of the skiers was able to get out and call for help while one other stayed behind with the injured man, KCRA said.
The sheriff's officials told KCRA they were informed of the incident at 2:50 p.m. local time (5:50 p.m. ET).
The rescue teams reached the scene at 4:20 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET). ABC station NEWS10 reported that rescuers approached the area on a snowcat but had to hike for half a mile to reach the victims still at the scene.
Extreme skiing deaths on the rise in California community
Rescuers said the man who died had been slammed against a tree and partly buried in snow, NEWS10 reported.
"We had to unwrap him from around some trees and stuff and dig him out a bit more," Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team member Doug Read told NEWS10. "The slide had gone at least another 500 feet below that through a pretty thick forest and it was very unstable."
The man was taken to Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, where he later died. His name has not been released, the sheriff's office said.
KCRA reported that another of the three skiers suffered a broken leg.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
- Limbaugh: Contraception advocate should post sex videos
- The price for hiking in US forests is under review
- 2012 tornado disaster relief: how to help
- Conservative firebrand Andrew Breitbart dies at 43
- Man who jammed cell phones: 'People are extremely loud'
NBC station KCRA and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
