Blackbird Mountain Guides, the company whose backcountry ski trip ended in California's deadliest modern avalanche, has abruptly shut down, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
A brief notice on the Truckee-based company's website says, "Blackbird Mountain Guides is no longer operating. We are forever grateful for the kindness of our community." The company's social media accounts also appear to have been deleted. The closure comes nearly nine months after an avalanche near Castle Peak killed nine people, including three Blackbird guides and six clients, during a three-day backcountry skiing trip on Feb. 17. The website provides no further explanation of the company's closure, the Chronicle reported.
In August, California workplace safety officials cited Blackbird for seven alleged violations and proposed $151,300 in penalties. The largest, $81,000, was for an alleged willful-serious violation involving the company's failure to remove employees from an imminent avalanche hazard or prevent decisions that conflicted with avalanche forecasts. Other allegations cited employee training, avalanche risk assessment, protective equipment, emergency-response procedures and the reporting of the three employee deaths. Blackbird appealed the citations, saying they did not accurately reflect its safety practices. "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," the company said in August. The Cal/OSHA case remains open, according to the federal inspection database, the Chronicle reported.
The Feb. 17 avalanche buried 12 of the 15 people in the Blackbird group. Nine died, all from asphyxia caused by being buried in snow, according to the Nevada County Coroner's Office. Three Blackbird guides — Andrew Alissandratos, Nicole "Niki" Choo and Michael Henry — were among those killed. An independent report the company commissioned from avalanche professional Don Sharaf, released in August, found the group was traveling through relatively low-angle, forested terrain and had tried to move farther from the runout zone before an open creek blocked their route. The report did not assign blame to Blackbird and did not resolve why the group left the Frog Lake huts that morning after the Sierra Avalanche Center had raised the danger to high. The Nevada County Sheriff's Office opened a criminal investigation and later forwarded its findings to the district attorney's office. No criminal charges had been announced as of Wednesday, the Chronicle reported.