Cole Murphy died in December of last year. Photo: Mammoth
An investigation into the death of a Mammoth Mountain ski patroller has concluded. Six months after the death of 30-year-old ski patroller Cole Murphy, California workplace regulators determined that Mammoth Mountain Ski Area knowingly violated safety requirements.
On the morning of December 26, 2025, Murphy was part of a group of ski patrollers doing mitigation work in the Avalanche Chutes area of the resort. Around 7:30 a.m., two ski patrollers set off an explosion, triggering an avalanche that buried Murphy and another patroller. The other patroller was recovered soon after, but Murphy remained under the snow for another 15 minutes, according to the medical examiner’s report. When Murphy finally was extricated from the snow he was taken by ambulance to Mammoth Hospital and then flown to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada. He died the following day.
Six months later, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued three citations to Mammoth. As SFGATE reports, the organization found that Mammoth did not train or provide instruction on how to use protective equipment. On top of that they found that Mammoth ski patrollers did not maintain communications and failed to make sure there were no patrollers in the avalanche path before setting off explosives. Cal/OSHA did note that Mammoth has since corrected all three violations.
In July, Mammoth filed to contest the citations. “Mammoth Mountain has fully cooperated with the investigation and is exercising its statutory right to contest the citations through the established appeals process,” Mammoth communications director Emily van Greuning wrote to SFGATE in an email.
Murphy was not the first patroller to die in an avalanche last year. In February, Claire Murphy (no relation to Cole) was working in the same area of the mountain when she was killed. In that case, Cal/OSHA also issued three citations against Mammoth Mountain Ski Area after determining the resort failed to provide necessary safeguards for staff.
