GIRWOOD, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) – Three people are believed to be dead after they were caught in a large avalanche while skiing in the Alaska backcountry.
The three heli-skiers were swept away in an avalanche on 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 and based on what troopers currently know, they “do not believe that any of the three missing persons survived the avalanche.”
The avalanche hit around 3:30 p.m. near the west fork of Twentymile River, troopers said, about 10 miles south down the Seward Highway from Girdwood.
Alaska State Troopers said they were notified of the avalanche at about 5:10 p.m. Tuesday.
They said the three skiers were with a commercial heliskiing operation. Guides from the 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 have 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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