On February 17, 11 skiers and their four guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides (BMG) were returning from a three-day backcountry ski trip in the Castle Peak area of Nevada County when they were caught in an avalanche. Six skiers and three guides died in the state's deadliest avalanche.
On Sunday, BMG released the results of a report by a 35-year avalanche and backcountry ski professional Don Sharaf, which detailed the weather conditions, the locations of the group, and their strategies and attempts to reach the Castle Peak trailhead after staying two nights at Frog Lake Backcountry Huts.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter lifts off from a field after a mission with a search and rescue crew in Truckee, Calif., Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images"Trained mountain guides commonly operate during periods of High avalanche danger and active storms by applying established risk-management practices," the report stated. "Guiding under elevated avalanche hazard is a recognized and accepted professional practice when these methods are applied."
"The creek is normally bridged by consolidated snow and crossable in winter. Because of the unusual conditions of the season, it appears to have remained open and uncrossable below Red Dot Pass, preventing the group from reaching the northwest side of the creek," the report said. Based on the group's tracks from the preceding days, they would not have known about this impassable barrier before their exit on Tuesday morning."
The Nevada County Sheriff's Office and the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) both launched investigation into the avalanche to determine any potential criminal negligence and workplace safety violations. On Thursday, the Sheriff's Office forwarded its findings to the district attorney's office for review and the Cal/OSHA findings were still pending as of Monday.
It took four days to recover all nine victims from the avalanche site because of whiteout conditions and massive snow accumulation. Crews, which included members of the California National Guard, had to perform avalanche mitigation work to keep the recovery teams safe from further slides.
The incident came one month after another avalanche in the same area killed a snowmobiler.
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