3 skiers dead after being swept up in avalanche in Alaska backcountry

GIRWOOD, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) - Three people have been confirmed dead after they were caught in a large avalanche while skiing in the Alaska backcountry, state officials said.

The three heli-skiers were swept away in an avalanche around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday near the west fork of the Twentymile River, according to the Alaska State Troopers’ preliminary investigation.

Attempts to reach and recover the skiers have been unsuccessful due to bad weather. Recovery teams are expected to try again Thursday.

Chugach Powder Guides was the company providing access to the slopes for the heli-skiers. The company announced Wednesday around 3 p.m. that three of their clients had died because of the avalanche. They confirmed with witnesses that the three men deployed their avalanche airbags as they were being swept away.

Alaska State Troopers said guides from the commercial heli-skiing group began looking for the three skiers in the aftermath of the avalanche.

The guides were able to find the probable area where the skiers were buried using avalanche beacons, but couldn’t recover them because of the depth of the snow. Alaska State Troopers reported the skiers were buried in snow about 40 to 100 feet deep.

Alaska State Troopers reported further operations on Tuesday to recover the skiers were unsuccessful because of the avalanche risk in the area.

Andrew Schauer, Lead Avalanche Forecaster for the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center in Girdwood, said conditions at the time of the avalanche were considered dangerous and are likely to remain that way going forward.

Schauer said there have been several human-caused avalanches in the backcountry in the last several days.

“There’s just this weak snow that formed in the beginning of February and it’s since been buried by several smaller storms, and it’s a foot or two deep on average and it’s still making avalanches,” Schauer said. “And we are expecting that conditions are going to remain dangerous for the foreseeable future just because of the nature of these weak layers.”

Schauer said it might be tempting for people to get into the backcountry and enjoy the fresh snow that was coming down Wednesday, but said it’s not a good idea.

“We are recommending that people stay off steep terrain for now, it’s going to take some time for this problem to settle out,” he said.

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