Overview
- State regulators issued seven citations that add to $151,300 in proposed penalties, including an $81,000 willful-serious finding that the company failed to correct an imminent avalanche hazard.
- The citations list specific failures to assess avalanche hazards, provide effective employee training, evaluate and supply protective equipment such as avalanche airbags or AvaLungs, and maintain an injury and illness prevention program.
- Investigations into the Feb. 17 avalanche that killed nine people found the group traveled during high avalanche danger in whiteout storm conditions and faced route constraints such as an inaccessible creek that funneled travel into runout terrain.
- Blackbird Mountain Guides said it will appeal the fines, disputes the citations, and is cooperating with state and local probes while a separate Cal/OSHA Bureau of Investigations inquiry remains open.
- Nevada County investigators have forwarded a criminal negligence review to the district attorney for possible charges, and the case could prompt civil suits, regulatory changes, and closer oversight of commercial backcountry guiding practices.