Friends and family have launched GoFundMe campaigns to support the loved ones of two victims of a deadly backcountry avalanche near Lake Tahoe that killed nine people on a ski trip last month.

Katherine Vitt, 43, of Greenbrae in Marin County, was among those killed when the avalanche struck near Castle Peak on Feb. 17. Vitt, described by loved ones as a devoted mother and a bright presence in her community, is survived by her husband and two sons.

A verified GoFundMe campaign has been established to provide long-term stability and support for the children following her death and had raised more than $135,000 as of Wednesday.

Andrew Alissandratos, 34, of Verdi, Nevada, appears in an undated selfie. He was killed in an avalanche near Lake Tahoe on Feb. 17, 2026, while working as a guide for the Northstar Coaching Team. (GoFundMe via Bay City News)

Andrew Alissandratos, 34, of Verdi, Nevada, also died in the avalanche. Alissandratos was working as a guide for Blackbird Mountain Guides. A separate GoFundMe campaign has been set up to support his wife and brother as they cope with the loss and had raised nearly $50,000 as of Wednesday.

The avalanche hit near Castle Peak, about 4 miles north of Sugar Bowl Resort, according to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. Search efforts rescued six other victims who survived. Dangerous weather and continued snowfall delayed recovery efforts for days.

Authorities said those who died consisted of three professional guides and six experienced backcountry skiers.

Ruth Dusseault is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist focused on environment and energy. Her position is supported by the California local news fellowship, a statewide initiative spearheaded by UC Berkeley aimed at supporting local news platforms. While a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism (c’23), Ruth developed stories about the social and environmental circumstances of contaminated watersheds around the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Her thesis explored rights of nature laws in small rural communities. She is a former assistant professor and artist in residence at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, and uses photography, film and digital storytelling to report on the engineered systems that undergird modern life.