Heli-skiers killed by massive avalanche came to Alaska from different states but grew up together in Minnesota

The three men killed Tuesday by a massive avalanche during a guided heli-skiing trip in the Chugach Mountains near Girdwood came together in Alaska after meeting years ago in Minnesota.

The Alaska State Troopers on Thursday said the men were 39-year-old David Linder, of Florida; 39-year-old Charles Eppard, of Montana; and 38-year-old Jeremy Leif, of Minnesota.

Friends said all three were married with children and had been friends since high school. They were clients of Chugach Powder Guides, a longtime Alaska heli-ski operator.

A fourth member of the group survived the avalanche. He has not been identified.

The incident occurred around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday near the West Fork of Twentymile River, Alaska State Troopers said Wednesday. The slide area is a mountain cirque about 9 miles northeast of Girdwood, in backcountry terrain accessible by air.

It appears to be the first fatal avalanche this winter in Alaska and the country’s deadliest since an avalanche in Washington’s Cascade Mountains killed three climbers in 2023.

The men were buried under at least 40 feet of snow, authorities said.

A guide went out first and opened the run, laying down a line for the group to follow, according to an account from a friend of the four men. The surviving skier was second to transit the slope, then the three men were caught in the avalanche as they moved across.

The survivor described hearing radio traffic saying “avalanche!” and calls to deploy avalanche air bags, the friend said. Chugach Powder Guides said the three men deployed the balloon-like bags designed to help users stay near the surface of a moving avalanche.

The run was part of the company’s normal inventory of routes, a spokesperson has said. Chugach Powder Guides declined to provide additional comment Thursday.

The survivor was flown out, as was another group skiing in the area with ties to the four men, the company said.

Guides searched for the three missing skiers immediately but halted about an hour later due to safety concerns and the challenging conditions, the spokesperson has said.

Wind prevented troopers from flying in the area Wednesday.

Troopers said that on Thursday they planned, along with avalanche and recovery experts, to conduct an aerial assessment of the slide to “determine additional avalanche danger and recovery options.”

It remains unclear whether the men’s bodies can be recovered given the depth of the avalanche debris in the area.

The three men, as well as the survivor, all attended high school in Mankato, Minnesota, according to a friend.

Linder was an owner of Sub Arctic Media, which owns more than 20 talk show and music radio stations across Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. He was described as an experienced and avid skier most recently living in Miami with his wife and three sons.

Eppard attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, the Star Tribune reported. He was the father of a daughter, according to a Gofundme site set up to benefit the family. Eppard moved to Montana with “aspirations of life in the mountains,” according to a 2020 report in the Bigfork Eagle.

Leif was CEO of an IT consulting group and living in Minneapolis with his wife and two children, according to various sources.

Heli-ski trips grant rare access to long backcountry runs in pristine snow across miles of untracked terrain. Heli-ski companies generally assess avalanche danger as part of regular operations.

Tuesday’s slide extended over a half-mile, starting at about 3,500 feet altitude and ending at about 700 feet, according to an estimate provided by Chugach Powder Guides earlier this week. The debris pile was estimated at 40 to 100 feet deep, and guides picked up signals from avalanche beacons the men wore as deep as about 45 feet down, authorities said.

Avalanche forecasters at the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center said a “touchy” snowpack led to numerous recent human-triggered avalanches across the broad Turnagain Pass zone that includes the Chugach Mountains around Girdwood. Tuesday’s avalanche occurred just outside that zone.

The forecast in the days leading up to Tuesday’s slide included a description of a weak snow layer buried up to 2 feet deep that was “tricky to assess” and posed a risk to backcountry recreators. On Tuesday, in that Turnagain zone, the center rated avalanche danger as “considerable” above 1,500 feet.

By Thursday, the center increased avalanche danger to “high” above 1,000 feet due to a storm that overloaded the weak layer with new snow and warned of very dangerous conditions with travel not recommended in avalanche terrain.