Sierra Nevada means “snowy mountains” in Spanish. This spectacular range runs 400 miles along the eastern edge of California. It is the most avalanche-prone area in the United States, a place where the winter “Storm King” produces many devastating snowstorms. This documentary examines three winter weather disasters in the Sierras, starting with the most notorious, the Donner Party. Snowbound over the winter of 1846-1847, of the 81 settlers who went into the mountains, only 45 walked out. Some of the group resorted to cannibalism, which was sensationalized in the press. The second disaster profiled occurred in January 1952 when the luxury streamliner train “City of San Francisco” became stuck in Donner Pass by avalanches resulting from extreme snowfall the previous autumn. One engineer was killed and the train’s passengers were stranded 3 days without heat before rescue. The third disaster happened at the Alpine Meadows ski resort near Lake Tahoe. The 15-foot snow pack in the spring of 1982 created dangerous avalanche conditions, and on March 31 1982 the resort was closed. On that day an avalanche killed 7 people and buried chair-lift operator Anna Conrad inside an employee building at the lodge. Anna was dug out alive 5 days later.