Skiers at Heavenly Mountain Resort on Monday afternoon.
Rescuers responded to three incidents within two hours of one another on Monday morning that injured as many as a dozen people in the mountains around Carson Valley.
Five people were injured at Heavenly Mountain Resort around 10:10 a.m., according to Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District.
Initial reports were that at least three of them fell more than 30 feet from the lift.
All five people were transported via ground ambulance to Renown Regional Medical Center. East Fork Rescue 7 aided in the response as it was returning from delivering subjects from a collision in Alpine County to Barton Memorial Hospital.
“Tahoe Douglas was able to continue coverage in our district, thanks to our Mutual Aid cooperators from neighboring districts,” Tahoe Douglas spokeswoman Michelle Turner said.
The Tahoe Daily Tribune reported that two chairs collided on the Comet Express lift at Heavenly.
The Tribune quoted a social media post where a commenter said they saw a chair slide backwards into another chair and those on the front chair fell off.
“Heavenly Mountain Resort can confirm an incident occurred on its Comet Express chairlift today,” the resort said in an email to the Tribune. “The safety of our guests is our top priority, and the resort is investigating the incident.”
Going too fast for an icy roadway is cited as the cause of a head-on collision just north of Picketts Junction in Alpine County.
According to the California Highway Patrol, a Huntington Beach man was northbound on Highway 89 when the Chevrolet he was driving hit a patch of ice at around 8:15 a.m.
The Chevy veered into the oncoming lane, colliding with a Mazda resulting in major damage to both vehicles.
Two occupants of the Mazda and three from the Chevy were transported for major injuries.
Slick conditions contributed to a head-on collision at 8:14 a.m. Monday at Granite Springs Drive, tying up two Tahoe-Douglas ambulances for an hour.
The collision involved a Subaru and a Dodge pickup that hit black ice, according to a witness. At least two people were hurt.
The three incidents resulted in nearly all the ambulances between South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe-Douglas in use, prompting a mass casualty declaration.
Rain and warm conditions resulted in wet roads across Western Nevada.
While temperatures remained above freezing across most of the region, some shady spots were unexpectedly icy, prompting calls for sanding on Highway 89.
A Christmas Eve storm prompted a winter weather advisory across the Sierra on Tuesday, which could result in travel issues this morning.
Temperatures are forecast to drop into the teens this morning. Visit nvroads.com for road conditions.
