Overview
- The 15-person party, four guides and 11 clients on a three-day Blackbird Mountain Guides tour, was returning from the Frog Lake huts when the slide struck around 11:30 a.m. near Castle Peak.
- Six skiers were found alive and sheltered on site, and two were hospitalized for injuries, with one later released.
- Roughly 46–50 responders used tracked Snowcats, skis, avalanche beacons and satellite/iPhone SOS messaging to locate survivors in whiteout conditions.
- The Sierra Avalanche Center had issued a high-danger warning before the trip as a powerful storm built unstable, wind-drifted slabs across backcountry terrain.
- Authorities have shifted toward recovery, contacted the guide company about operating under the warning, and continue searching for the remaining missing skier.