Six months after the deadliest avalanche accident in modern California history buried 13 and killed nine backcountry travelers near Truckee, Calif., the state workplace safety board has completed its investigation. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued six citations and $155,300 in fines on Aug. 12 to Blackbird Mountain Guides, which led the group on Feb. 17, the day of the accident. BMG has appealed the citations.
While the state board declined to pursue criminal charges, the citations classified Blackbird’s workplace safety violations as “serious” and “willful”, their two highest classifications for violations. A “willful” violation in the California Code is defined, in part, as one in which the employer “was aware that an unsafe or hazardous condition existed and made no reasonable effort to eliminate the condition.”
The Avalanche
A large winter storm created unstable backcountry avalanche conditions for the days surrounding the Feb. 17 incident, and the Sierra Avalanche Center had issued an avalanche warning around the storm. The SAC had listed avalanche danger for Feb. 17 as “HIGH,” flagging several dangers, including unstable storm snow.
The Lake Tahoe region is known for intense winter storms with snowfall measured in feet, but the Final Report from the Sierra Avalanche Center notes that 40 inches of fresh storm snow combined with high winds to create a cross-loaded slope above the group. That snow ultimately slid as an avalanche and ran across the flat terrain where the group was crossing its path, burying 13 of the 15-person group and killing nine.
Recorded wind speeds around the time of the accident averaged 75 mph and peaked around 125 mph. Wind-loading was happening so rapidly that avalanche crews weren’t able to assess the crown depth of the avalanche site because snow refilled the area so quickly.
The SAC report (like most official avalanche accident reports) avoids assigning blame for the deaths. However, their report noted that the large size of the 15-person group and the failure to travel in avalanche terrain one person at a time violated accepted best practices.
‘Dynamic Wilderness Environments’
Blackbird commissioned a more detailed report on the incident from a retired avalanche professional, which they released on Aug. 8. The Blackbird report also sidesteps blame but provides additional context. Because so many members of the party died — including three of four guides — in the accident and two of six survivors declined to comment for the report, there’s limited context about the decision-making that led up to the accident.
Blackbird Mountain Guides has appealed the citations and issued a statement challenging the accusations of negligence.
“The citations do not reflect the reality of our profession or the safety program we have built,” Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a press release. “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.”
