The recent graduate, 21, was on a trail in the Lake Tahoe region of California on Tuesday and did not return, prompting a search. His death is under investigation, the authorities said.

© Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group, via Associated Press

If the party had waited out the storm in their cabins, one of the skiers said, the outcome might have been different.

© Max Whittaker for The New York Times

Officials in Nevada County, Calif., are investigating whether there could have been criminal negligence involved in the disaster that killed at least eight people.

© Max Whittaker for The New York Times