Overview
- A roughly 100-foot-wide avalanche buried a 15-person backcountry ski party on Feb. 17, killing nine people who were later found to have died of asphyxia from burial in snow.
- The nine dead included three guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides and six clients while six members of the party survived after immediate field rescues.
- Agency and independent analyses raised concerns that the group was exposed to avalanche terrain during extreme storm conditions and that the combined group size increased the risk of triggering a slide.
- An internal report commissioned by the guide company and an independent preliminary review assigned no direct blame and did not reach definitive conclusions about a trigger or mistakes.
- Nevada County investigators have completed a criminal negligence probe and turned their findings to prosecutors, and questions remain about why some avalanche airbags did not deploy and whether charges or civil suits will follow.