By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — After six skiers were rescued from the “horrific” aftermath of an avalanche near California’s Lake Tahoe, the family members of nine remaining skiers received crushing news. The bodies of eight had been left on the icy mountainside, and a final member of the group was still missing, presumed dead among the blanket of snow.

The football-field sized crush of snow and ice is the deadliest avalanche in California’s recorded history and has drawn rescue and recovery resources from as far as Los Angeles – about 500 miles away.

The same dangerous whiteout conditions that caused the avalanche Tuesday have prevented recovery crews from returning to the remote Sierra Nevada backcountry to bring home the bodies, officials said in an update Wednesday.

A spouse of the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team is among the dead, making the search and recovery effort particularly wrenching for their personnel, said Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo.

The victims also include members of the Sugar Bowl Academy community, the private school and US Ski and Snowboard club said in a statement, without identifying those who were killed or injured.

Blackbird Mountain Guides, the tour company that organized the trip, said six clients and three guides are among those killed, while five clients and one guide survived the avalanche.

“The best thing we can do is surround our athletes and families with care and support while providing the necessary space and time for grief and healing,” Stephen McMahon, executive director of the Sugar Bowl Academy said.

As another storm bears down on the region, incident response teams are waiting for a window when they may safely trek back to the scene.

Here’s the latest:

• More than half the group killed: A group of 15 skiers were returning from a three-day trip organized by Blackbird Mountain Guides, according to Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon. The group included four guides and 11 clients who had paid for the trip. They were headed back to the trailhead when the avalanche struck. Only six people survived, some of whom were injured, Moon said. Eight others were found dead, and another person who is still missing is also presumed to be dead. The survivors consist of four men and two women; those confirmed and presumed dead include seven women and two men, the sheriff confirmed.
• Rescuers grapple with risky conditions: As many as 50 search and rescue personnel from local and neighboring counties descended upon the area to help coordinate the response, Moon said. But battering snow, whiteout conditions and the risk of another avalanche forced crews to take a slow and careful approach. There is no road to the remote scene, so rescue crews used a snowcat vehicle to get within two miles of the site before skiing the rest of the way, the sheriff said. “Extreme weather conditions, I would say, is an understatement,” Moon said.
• Survivor was able to text rescuers: Before rescue units arrived on the scene, they knew at least six people had survived. The surviving group had been communicating with them via emergency beacons and iPhone SOS signals, Moon said. One of the guides was able to communicate with rescuers by text during the hours crews were trying to reach them.
• Guides were highly trained: Blackbird Mountain Guides said all four guides on the trip were American Mountain Guides Association trained or certified in backcountry skiing. They were also certified instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education. The company noted that guides in the field had been in communication with senior guides at their base about conditions and route decisions. Blackbird said it is still working to un

By Sunlen Serfaty, CNN

(CNN) — The Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that advises the president and Congress on design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings, is usually made up of experts in architecture, art and urban and landscape design.

But when the commission meets on Thursday to evaluate President Donald Trump’s sweeping new East Wing renovation plans, the seven-member group may be more notable for its political loyalties.

The commission’s vote on Trump’s design – a key step before its final sign off – would likely take place only after two of the president’s allies are sworn in as members.

It will mark the first time the panel fully filled with Trump’s appointees is meeting. Since last year, the president has worked hard to install loyalists on the committee, gutting the board completely in October as East Wing demolition got underway.

In January, he appointed four new officials. “The commission is stacked with loyalists who will rubber stamp all of the president’s projects,” a source familiar with the workings of the commission predicted.

“It’s sad that a majority of the commissioners lack expertise in art and architecture,” the person told CNN. “There is only one architect, yet he recused himself from reviewing the ballroom. This means that not a single architect will be reviewing the White House project. [And] unlike in the past, the commission also lacks an artist and a landscape architect.”

And just this week, Trump announced he would appoint his executive assistant, Chamberlain Harris — a 26-year-old without any extensive arts experience — as a new member. Harris is set to be sworn in Thursday along with Pamela Hughes Patenaude, former deputy secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the first Trump administration.

The White House told CNN in a statement: “President Trump has an incredible eye and appreciation for the arts, and only selects the most talented people possible. These individuals possess a wealth of experience that reflects the values of everyday Americans and President Trump’s vision to Make America Great Again.”

Other current members include Mary Anne Carter, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts who is a close friend of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles; art critic and conservative commentator Roger Kimball; architect James McCrery, who was previously hired to helm the ballroom construction; and Matthew Taylor, a White House official who is working on Trump’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes.

Last month, James McCrery recused himself from reviewing the White House ballroom.

“I am obligated to and also just a sense of propriety, McCrery told the committee in January, “I’m obligated to recuse myself from discussion in any action that takes place both in this meeting and in any of the feature meetings regarding this particular project.”

Although commission chairman Rodney Cook previously said he wanted the commission to meet in person to allow Shalom Baranes, the architect, to present to the committee with a physical model of the ballroom, Thursday’s gathering is happening virtually on Zoom.

An in-person commission meeting would have allowed the public to make statements in support of or in opposition to the projects being discussed, but instead, according to the commission, comments can be submitted to be shared with the Commission members before the meeting and read or summarized at the discretion of the CFA chairman.

The lack of more opportunity for public comment is highly unusual, said the source familiar with the commission, who also noted other drawbacks of the virtual meeting, including lack of access for media and presentation material to be submitted.

“No project as significant as the ballroom has ever been reviewed by the commission meeting virtually,” they said. “It’s

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