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Officials at the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center have confirmed that three skiers on a heli-skiing tour were killed in an avalanche outside of Girdwood, Alaska this week. The avalanche occurred on Tuesday, March 4, at about 3:30 p.m. and initial reports said the backcountry skiers had been buried under no less than 40 feet of snow. The search for all three has made national headlines since.
The skiers were traveling with Chugach Powder Guides, and the guides with them immediately attempted to save the victims. A spokesperson from the company told the Anchorage Daily News that the slide started at an altitude of about 3,500 feet and continued all the way down to 700 feet, giving some perspective of how massive the avalanche was. The spokesperson said that guides were able to locate signals from avalanche beacons, with the lowest signal coming around 45 feet deep. An hour later, it was determined “the victims were clearly unrecoverable” given the resources the guides had.
“We are sorry to report an avalanche resulting in multiple fatalities in the west fork of the Twentymile River yesterday afternoon,” the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center said on Wednesday. “Details on this accident are still emerging, and we will share more information as it becomes available. Our sincere condolences go out to the friends and families of those involved.”
According to the National Avalanche Center, Thursday’s confirmation from Chugach officials brings the total of avalanche fatalities in the U.S. this winter up to 18. That’s already higher than last winter’s 13 recorded avalanche deaths. A study published in late 2024 found that avalanche survival rates have increased notably over the past four decades.
“Up until 1990, 43.5 percent of buried victims survived; now, it’s 53.5 percent,” said Simon Rauch, the study’s lead author and an emergency physician at Eurac Research, based in the northern Italian town of Bolzano, crediting faster response times for the improvement. “Time is the critical factor, and 10 minutes is not long. Therefore, it’s essential to understand that the survival chances in an avalanche burial are three times higher when excursion companions are able to dig out the victims, rather than when organized rescue teams are involved.”
