Blown-In is a semi-regular look at the latest ski and outdoor industry news, featuring a collection of press releases, new products, and interesting stuff circulating on the interweb that catches our attention.
This edition of Blown-In features the Castle Peak avalanche, ski pass anti-trust case, new public land status map and pending “Super El Nińo” forecast.
Castle Peak Avalanche Updates
New details around the tragic February 2026 Castle Peak avalanche are now available following the release of a full coroner’s report and an independent report commissioned by Blackbird Mountain Guides (BMG). The incident occurred on February 17, 2026, on a north-facing slope northeast of Donner Summit, California, in the Northern Sierra Nevada.
The coroner’s findings confirm the cause of death for all nine victims as asphyxia due to snow burial after being swept into a small terrain depression and buried in a dense 20-foot by 20-foot area.
The preliminary incident report details that the 15-person guided group was likely funnelled into hazardous avalanche terrain after an impassable, open creek and deep vertical creek sidewalls blocked a safer route. In addition, blinding blizzard conditions hindered visibility of the terrain and overhead avalanche path, leading the group into their dangerous position. In addition, the report dives into route choice, weather conditions, and guide mindset on the day of the event. The report was commissioned by Blackbird Mountain Guides in April and completed in late July. The full incident report is available here.
Winter 2026-27 Super El Niño Update
You’ve likely heard talk of a possible Super El Niño event forming for our approaching winter. If you’re not well-versed in the details related to El Niño and La Niña, the basic summary is that El Niño and La Niña are the opposing phenomena of ENSO, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. El Niño indicates warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, while La Niña indicates cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. Each has its own distinct influence on our North American climate in the winter.
A Super El Niño is simply a strong version of El Niño. In the meteorological world, strong means a change from the norm of two degrees or more. Typically, the stronger the change, the better the chance it will impact our ski season. Nonetheless, it’s important to understand that we are talking about the possibility of an influence on our weather patterns, not necessarily a for-sure outcome. They typically influence different regions differently.
In my Pacific Northwest home, El Niño historically means below average snowfall and above average snow levels. However, in California’s Sierra-Nevada mountains, it can mean a banner snow season. And for the Rocky Mountains, it can mean a split experience, with the Northern Rockies seeing a below-average snowpack and the Southern Rockies above average. The Wasatch and the Tetons could go either way. That said, it’s all about the chances for it to stray from average, not a guarantee.
As of August, the Climate Prediction Center is calling for a 90% chance of a very strong El Niño event. The last officially recorded Super El Niño was the winter of 2015-16. In fact, it’s the only official Super El Niño in the last 20 years. The winter of 2023-24 was close to a Super event, but the temp change peaked at less than the official two-degree limit. Want to learn more and track what’s going on? The NOAA Climate Prediction Center has all the data and charts you would like to wile away the hours, becoming an expert.
Ski Pass Price Fixing
As if we needed another reason to head for the backcountry, there is currently a lawsuit suggesting that major resorts have been colluding on ticket prices. Of course, ticket prices have been climbing steadily for years. But now a federal lawsuit claims ticket increases were coordinated by the industry’s biggest resort companies. Read more on Teton Gravity
OnX Public Land Status Map
OnX, a digital map platform, recently released a free interactive map and dashboard that consolidates active public comment periods and proposals from federal land management agencies across the United States.
The OnX Public Land Comment Hub is a free resource for hunters, anglers, off-roaders, hikers, backcountry skiers and other public land users, offering a single source for learning about plans and proposals that could impact the places where you recreate.
The Public Comment Hub aggregates active public comment periods and agency-wide proposals from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. You can explore decisions geographically, filter opportunities by agency, review summaries of proposed actions, see approaching deadlines and follow links to appropriate federal agency websites.
Every open comment period on the map is tied to a location, but not every government notice comes with the same level of geographic detail. To give you the most useful location information possible for every comment period, our system checks several geographic resources and uses the best one it can find:
- First, the system looks for a map of the exact project area. If the agency published geographic data or a format-compatible map with the public notice, that’s what you’ll see on our map, and you’ll need to zoom in to see these specific locations.
- If specific site data wasn’t provided in the public notice, the area is represented on our map as the boundary of the office or unit in charge of the decision. That means the area of the national forest, wildlife refuge, national park, or the BLM field or district office responsible for each proposal. This is a broader yet still accurate view showing where a decision will apply.
Agencywide proposals are listed below the map, rather than showing as areas on the map. This is because agency-wide rules apply broadly. Check out the OnX Public Lands Comment Hub
