KarunaNews Story

Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe has a 60-person ski patrol team and seven avalanche rescue dogs, known as the Heavenly Avalanche Rescue Dogs. “You progressively make it harder and harder to get through that wall [of snow],” said Bill Vore, a ski patrol handler from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. “And then the dogs just realize, if I dig a little bit, I get to find that person, I get to play the game.” Thirty avalanche deaths were reported by the American Avalanche Association and US Forest Service National Avalanche Center in 2022–2023. The Heavenly Ski Patrol appears in the resort’s safety videos, educating visitors. Off-season, their social media earns dollars which they donate to organizations and individuals in the local Lake Tahoe community.