TRUCKEE, Calif. >> Crews recovered the bodies of nine backcountry skiers who were killed in a California avalanche four days ago, authorities said Saturday, concluding a harrowing operation hindered by intense snowfall.

A search team reached the bodies of eight victims and found one other who had been missing and presumed dead since Tuesday’s avalanche on Castle Peak near Lake Tahoe. The ninth person who was missing was found “relatively close” to the other victims, but it was impossible to see them because there were whiteout conditions on Tuesday when the others were located.

At a news conference on Saturday, Nevada County Sheriff Shannon Moon praised the collective efforts of the numerous agencies who helped recover the victims, including the 42 volunteers who helped on the last day of the operation.

“We are fortunate in this mountain community that we are very tight-knit, and our community shows up in times of tragedy,” Moon said.

The sheriff named for the first time on Saturday the three guides for the Blackbird Mountain Co. who were killed in the avalanche. They are Andrew Alissandratos, 34, Nicole Choo, 42, and Michael Henry, 30.

Alissandratos was originally from Tampa, Fla., but moved to Tahoe roughly a decade ago, according to his biography on the guide website. He enjoyed a wide array of adventure, like split-boarding and rock climbing. Henry moved to Colorado in 2016, and then to Truckee three years later, the site said. He is described as “laid back” and eager to share his knowledge and love of the mountains with others. There was no bio for Choo on the website on Saturday.

“This was an enormous tragedy, and the saddest event our team has ever experienced,” Zeb Blais, founder of Blackbird Mountain Guides, wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

“We are doing what we can to support the families who lost so much, and the members of our team who lost treasured friends and colleagues,” he wrote.

The six others killed were women who were part of a close-knit group of friends who were experienced backcountry skiers and knew how to navigate the wilderness of California’s Sierra Nevada, their families said Thursday.

Two of the friends got out alive and were rescued along with four others, including one guide, after Tuesday’s avalanche.

“We are devastated beyond words,” the families said in a statement released through a spokesperson. “Our focus right now is supporting our children through this incredible tragedy and honoring the lives of these extraordinary women. They were all mothers, wives and friends, all of whom connected through the love of the outdoors.”

The six killed lived in the Bay Area, Idaho and near Lake Tahoe. They are Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt, the families said, asking for privacy as they grieve. They added that they “have many unanswered questions.” They were all in their 40s.

The tragedy began around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday when six survivors called for help, describing a sudden and terrifying avalanche that was approximately the length of a football field. In the aftermath of the snowfall, those survivors had discovered the bodies of three deceased skiers nearby, according to Nevada County Sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Hack.

It was the last day of the three-day tour in the stunning and remote Sierra Nevada, and the group of 15 skiers decided to end the trip early to avoid the impending snowstorm. Officials described the path that the group was taking as a “normally traveled route” but declined to specify what that meant.

Initial reports indicated that at least two people in the group did not get swept away, Hack said. The others were standing separately and relatively close together and were hit with the avalanche.

Hack declined to offer more information about what might have set off the avalanche.