A avalanche in Alaska Backcountry swept and bury three skiers under a blanket of snow that could be as deep as a 10-story building, said Alaska State Troopers on Wednesday.
While the soldiers have not yet been able to assess the website, “based on the information provided by the operator, we unfortunately do not believe that one of the three missing people survived the avalanche,” said Austin McDaniel, spokesman for Alaska State Troopers, in a text to the Associated Press.
If the deaths are confirmed, it would be the deadliest US avalanche, since two years ago three climbers were killed in a slide in Washington’s Cascade Mountains.
The slide occurred late Tuesday afternoon near the Girdwood Ski community, which is about 64 kilometers south of Anchorage, said McDaniel.
HELI Skiing company leader tried to locate the skiers. With Avalanche Beacons, the leaders identified a probable area in which the skiers were buried at a depth of 12 to 30 meters, said McDaniel in a later e -mail.
“The leaders could not get back the three skiers due to the depth. Due to the significant avalanche risk in this area and limited daylight, no further recovery operations were carried out on March 4,” he said. “If the weather and conditions allow this, the soldiers plan to evaluate the avalanche conditions from the air and to determine the restoration options with people, have experience with regard to avalanche recovery.”
The Avalanche location is about 13 kilometers northeast of the airport in Girdwood.
Girdwood is the ski capital of Alaska and home of the Alyeska Resort at the foot of Mount Alyeska, where people ski or snowboard in the middle of a breathtaking view of the Turnagain arm. The Seven Glaciers restaurant is located on the top of the mountain, named after his view.
Heli-Skiing uses a helicopter to reach the tip of a mountain in remote backcountry areas where there are no ski lifts, and a person either skis or snowboards down the mountain.
Every winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the USA, according to the National Avalanche Center.
Fifteen people have been killed in the United States in the United States this winter. Among them were, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center 10 Backcountry skiers or snowboarders, four people on snow machines and a ski patrol.
Colorado experiences the most avalanche deaths with 325 people who have been killed since 1950. According to the center, Alaska occupies 172 deaths during this time.
In 2021, the Czech billionaire Petr Kellner and four more died in a helisman accident during a heliskiing tour near Knik Glacier in the Chugach mountains north of Anchorage. A year later, a Heli Ski leader died who was looking for an area for customers when an avalanche carried his body down his body almost 1500 feet (457 meters), said Alaska State Troopers at the time.
