Avalanche
On February 17, 2026, an avalanche, now considered California’s deadliest avalanche disaster, occurred near Castle Peak, claiming the lives of nine individuals, while six survived, thanks to the fast actions of three of the surviving members. The incident involved a guided backcountry group of 15 people with Blackbird Mountain Guides consisting of 11 clients and 4 professional guides.
This avalanche occurred near a north-facing slope below Castle Peak. According to the Sierra Avalanche Center, the slide was classified as a soft slab/storm slab avalanche that was triggered due to unknown reasons as it was not clear whether the slide occurred naturally or was remotely triggered. The following technical observations were made:
- Aspect: North
- Elevation: 8,260 feet
- Destructive Size: The avalanche was classified as a D2.5, which makes its typical length the size of a football field and roughly 6 ½ feet deep according to Avalanche.org.
- Vertical Fall: The debris traveled approximately 400 vertical feet, funneling towards the bottom of path.
- Impacts: 12 caught/carried; 12 completely buried; 9 killed.
The group was navigating through a high-intensity winter storm with extreme winds and heavy snowfall. While the group was going through a lower-angle section below a steeper pitch, the slope above them released. Out of the 15 members in the party, 12 were caught and fully buried by the debris. Three members of the group remained on the surface and immediately performed a companion search and were able to rescue 3 buried individuals.
Search and rescue arrived on the scene in the late afternoon, but operations were severely hindered by ongoing “extreme” avalanche danger and blizzard conditions. However, 8 of the 9 remaining deceased victims were excavated, and the teams were able to evacuate the 6 survivors from the scene under their own power to the Frog Lake Huts.
The search and rescue teams were not able to return to the scene until after the storm ended and avalanche mitigation was performed on February 20. Following the avalanche mitigation, the teams were able to remove 5 of the deceased and found the 9th buried victim before nightfall. On Saturday, Feb 21, rescue operations concluded with the retrieval of the last 4 deceased.
The conclusion of this terrible event leaves behind a legacy of the deadliest avalanche in California’s history. While the analysis of this avalanche provides critical data for future safety of backcountry athletes, the loss of life and the families of the nine individuals is still immense. So if you have plans to head into the backcountry anytime soon, now would be the best time to sign up for an avalanche safety course to keep yourself and your group safe.
Hey Greg, there were 4 guides. Please correct your article 11 clients, 4 professional guides.
My questions has always been what was their spacing along the traverse? Was fatigue/exposure a factor? What are the survivors saying about discussions they had prior to and during their outing? I’m sure this will all come out as this gets fully reviewed. Such a horrific loss and we all just want to learn from their experience-I know bc I’ve made my own mistakes. As I’ve learned from hundreds of SAR’s reports (shout out to Inyo and Mono SAR) and even air line crashes (thx to Hoover at Pilot Debrief) accidents tend to be an accumulation of actions and decisions. it’s seldom a single cause but an accumulation, many of which tend to be perfectly valid based on info available at the time. Prayers for the families and friends of these fine folk.
I’m sure this will be addressed, but since this storm was correctly forecast 4 days prior, why didn’t the group leave earlier, or ride out the storm in their cabin?