The Lake Tahoe-based backcountry ski guiding company that experienced the deadliest avalanche in modern California history has closed its doors, according to the company’s website. Blackbird Mountain Guides removed most of the content from its website and left a short message saying, “Blackbird Mountain Guides is no longer operating. We are forever grateful for the kindness of our community.”
The closure comes amid more than $150,000 in fines from California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health for the company’s role in a February 17 avalanche that claimed nine lives near Castle Peak northwest of Lake Tahoe. The biggest fine was for “failing to correct the imminent hazard posed by traveling in avalanche terrain when the avalanche danger was rated high.”
Statements on the incident are the only remaining content on the company website. The last statement on August 21 said the company would appeal the citations.
“The citations do not reflect the reality of our profession or the safety program we have built,” Blackbird Mountain Guides said. “We believe Blackbird operated in full compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements and consistent with the established safety frameworks of the broader professional mountain guiding industry.”
“Mountain guiding takes place in dynamic wilderness environments where conditions change minute to minute — it’s not a controlled setting such as construction sites,” they added. “We welcome the opportunity to work with Cal/OSHA to contextualize the unique realities of operating in backcountry environments.”
The company also appears to have deleted its social media accounts.
The avalanche occurred as the group of 15 — four guides and 11 clients — attempted to exit the wilderness during a winter storm. The three-day ski trip started on February 15. During the trip, an avalanche struck 13 of the 15. One client and one guide were behind the group and spared from the avalanche.
Those two, with the help of a client who extricated himself from the snow, rescued three buried people. Ultimately, the incident claimed nine lives — three guides and six clients.
The bodies were recovered on February 20 and 21.
A report prepared by avalanche expert Don Sharaf found that the group had attempted to exit through a safer area, but were thwarted by a creek crossing. They took a route closer to a steep slope and likely didn’t realize the risk amid whiteout conditions, given they were bunched together instead of spaced out, which is typical protocol in avalanche territory.
The cause of the slide is still unknown, but the group was traveling under avalanche warnings issued by the Sierra Avalanche Center. Mountains were particularly prone to avalanches during the February storm because January had been relatively warm and dry. New snow fell on a weak layer, which, when coupled with gale-force winds, created a recipe for avalanches.
