Sierra Nevada resort's ski patrol member caught in avalanche dies at medical center

TRUCKEE, Calif. – A member of a Sierra Nevada ski resort's patrol team who was injured after being caught in an avalanche has died.

Alpine Meadows said in a statement on Tuesday that 53-year-old Bill Foster died at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev., where he was taken after the avalanche a day earlier on the resort near Lake Tahoe.

Foster was buried in a slide that had been intentionally set with an explosive device by a senior member of the ski patrol team. The team was doing avalanche control in an area on the back side of resort. The area was closed to the public.

Resort officials say the avalanche broke much higher and wider on the slope than in past snow safety missions.

Foster was uncovered within eight minutes.