The lure of a snowy slope - a world-class snowy slope - was as clear as the mountain air on Wednesday to skiers and snowboarders eager to pay homage on freshly groomed trails.

"There's just no place like Squaw Valley," said Adam Latham, a self- described professional ski bum. He works nights tending bar in nearby Kings Beach on Lake Tahoe's north shore. By days, he hits the slopes.

"I have a slight addiction," he said, his eyes cutting to the sun-bathed slopes.

This is the high-altitude wonderland that drew three young Yuba County women who had joined this season's hordes of part-time workers at ski resorts ringing Lake Tahoe.

On Tuesday afternoon, they were found dead inside a car at Squaw Valley USA resort, likely victims of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning - and their awe of wintry beauty.

By midmorning Wednesday, parking lots of the storied Squaw Valley were filled with four-wheel-drives and sturdy cars, and lines for lift tickets backed up for an hour.

Above the colorful splashes of parkas, skis and boards, the mountain wall rose, formidable and beautiful.

A security guard at the resort had noticed a running car blanketed with fresh snow Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot of one of the hostels where Squaw Valley employees stay. Authorities believe snow blocked the car's tailpipe, forcing carbon monoxide inside.

Lacey Louann Sutton, 22, and Sara Alice McCullah, 21, were childhood friends and had left their Marysville homes in November for seasonal jobs at the resort. The Placer County Coroner's Office declined to release the name of the third woman, a 17-year-old from the small town of Loma Rica in Yuba County, because she is a juvenile.

McCullah's mother, Cindy Walczak, believes her daughter and friends were so excited about the snowfall that they took refuge in the car to watch and fell asleep, unaware of the deadly, undetectable gas.

By Wednesday, MySpace pages of McCullah and Sutton were filled with comments from friends and family.

"It was painless and they died enjoying the beautiful . yet deadly . first snow of the season. Rest in peace forever. I will always miss you," wrote one girl who identified herself as McCullah's sister.

The Placer County Coroner's Office is performing autopsies on all three, but investigators do not suspect foul play or alcohol or drugs, said sheriff's Lt. Alan Carter.

Carter said investigators are trying to piece together when and why the girls got into the car. Because up to 3 feet of snow had piled on the 1983 Oldsmobile, Carter said, the women were likely in the car overnight.

"We've been trying to find someone to tell us that," he said.

The women were living in one of the resort's hostels. Their roommates had not been questioned yet, Carter said.

"They've been really traumatized, and it's not relevant to the core thrust of the investigation right now," Carter said.

In the resort's visitor parking lot Wednesday morning, Tom Burton of Truckee readied himself for the slopes. The season's premiere snowstorm came up suddenly, he said.

"Three days ago, this was all dirt," he said, gesturing to the snow-covered lot.

Burton said the deaths were unsettling.

"I know everyone here, but each year, there's a lot of new kids," he said. "A lot of young kids roll in from all over."

Latham, 29, came to town seven years ago, working as a bartender at another resort after college. It was supposed to be a temporary gig before he returned to the Bay Area and plunged into a career as a stockbroker.

"Someone said, 'Hey, you should stay for the summer.' So I did," he said.

Shouldering his skis after a morning run, he said of the three women's deaths: "It's very sad."

Though these women had a place to stay, he said a lot of seasonal workers might sleep in cars at some point because the pay is minimal.

"It's definitely about the skiing," said Heidi Donohue, 36, who worked for five seasons at a resort.

It's never about the money, she said.

"You get to do what you want every day," said Donohue, a Los Angeles transplant to the north shore. She gripped her snowboard at her side.

Donohue studied to be an environmental scientist but instead became a full-time massage therapist so she could stay close to the slopes.

At one of Squaw Valley's employee hostels Wednesday, Daniel Minoletti, 32, said the money he makes as a ski instructor would buy a lot more in his native Chile. But the unparalleled skiing is the real draw - that and being a part of the skiing community.

The resort hires about 350 employees every season, a third from overseas. Most of the 10,000 seasonal workers at California ski resorts work in the Lake Tahoe and Mammoth regions, according to the California Ski Industry Association.

Savannah Cowley, spokeswoman for the resort, said the staff members at Squaw Valley USA were deeply affected by the girls' deaths.

"It's so out of our realm and so extremely tragic, we could never be prepared for something like this," she said.