KELLOGG — A three-day search and rescue operation ended Thursday with three skiers dead and five rescued from an avalanche Tuesday morning at Silver Mountain.

The five survivors suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

The massive rescue effort began when avalanches occurred on Wardner Peak’s runs, 16-to-1 and Morning Star, around 11 a.m. Both runs, which were considered in-bounds, had just recently opened after crews from Silver Mountain had done avalanche control blasting that morning.

The runs on Wardner Peak are among the more difficult ski areas, accessible only by foot after individuals get off at the Chair 4 terminus.

Avalanche blasting is where mountain authorities deliberately trigger small, controlled avalanches when no one is on the slope. They do this by digging pits to examine the layers of snow or by using radar. They then start an avalanche with controlled explosives.

On smaller test slopes, authorities may also perform ski-checking by deliberately skiing along fracture lines high on the slope. This method is done with a partner who stays at a distance and can immediately act if the test goes wrong.

Ski patrol and local rescue crews were immediately mobilized after the avalanche to start combing the area for survivors.

The bulk of the discoveries made by rescue crews occurred on Tuesday, when they were able to rescue five trapped skiers and recover two others.

The first confirmed fatality, identified by the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office as Carl William Dick Humphreys, 58, of Liberty Lake, Wash., was reportedly found earlier in the day under 10 feet of snow by rescue teams using probes.

The second confirmed fatality, identified as Scott Michael Parsons, 46, of Spokane Valley, Wash., was not located until much later in the day after dark. He was initially transported to Shoshone Medical Center in Kellogg, but was later pronounced dead.

At about 12:45 p.m. on Thursday, the body of the missing 8th skier, identified as Molly Elisabeth Hubbard, 33, of Minneapolis, Minn., was located roughly 50 hours after the initial avalanche.

At first Silver Mountain believed that only seven people were caught in the avalanche and announced Tuesday night that “indications are all skiers are now accounted for.”

The statement turned out to be incorrect, as the resort received a phone call about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday from a family member saying they hadn’t heard from an individual who was on the mountain during Tuesday’s avalanches.

The suspicions were confirmed when authorities located the individual’s vehicle in the Silver Mountain parking lot.

With the information, rescue teams returned to the mountain Wednesday morning to continue the search. On the second day, the total search team numbered about 80 people.

Rescue efforts on the first two days were limited to multi-person ground searches with dogs and probes. Starting with high-debris areas first, teams used a grid system to cover the terrain and search for survivors. Air support was unavailable on Tuesday and Wednesday due to heavy, low-sitting fog covering the mountainous region and a lack of resources.

Crews had no luck until the following day, when air support was finally able to assist.

“With a short break in the weather, Two Bear Air, a search and rescue aviation support team out of Whitefish, Mont., is assisting in the search utilizing special equipment that, if successful, will significantly minimize the search area on Wardner Peak,” Undersheriff Holly Lindsey announced Thursday morning. “Also aiding in today’s search are several avalanche K-9 teams from around the Northwest.”

At 12:45 p.m. Thursday, the body of the missing skier had been located roughly 50 hours after the initial avalanche.

“We have utilized special equipment from Two Bear Air,” Shoshone County Sheriff Mike Gunderson said. “They have technology (specifically called a Recco Detector) that they have been able to outfit their helicopters with. It helps with reflections from cellphones and other items. They were searching areas where they got reflective hits and one of those reflective hits allowed us to locate them.”

While the body had been located, it took some time to recover since it was positioned in a rugged area of the Peak.

The SCSO reported that 120 search and rescue responders had been participating in the operation on Thursday.

With the last known skier being located, rescue teams returned to the base of the mountain and discontinued the search effort Thursday afternoon.

As of press time, officials had not released the identity of the third victim.

At the time of the avalanche, the Silver Valley (along with St. Regis, Mont.) was under a “high” avalanche danger rating from the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center due to the rapid loading of new snow and wind slabs over buried persistent weak layers.