Remains of 2nd heli-skier killed in March avalanche near Girdwood identified as Montana man

One of the men killed in a Girdwood-area avalanche last March whose body was recovered earlier this week was identified as 39-year-old Charles Eppard, Alaska State Troopers said Friday.

Eppard, of Montana, was one of three heli-skiers fatally engulfed by a March 4 avalanche about 9 miles northeast of Girdwood, in a mountain cirque near the west fork of Twentymile River.

His remains were found Tuesday in the slide area of the avalanche, according to a state Department of Public Safety online statement.

Troopers released Eppard’s name after the State Medical Examiner Office positively identified the remains and his next of kin were notified.

Eppard and two other friends from their high school days in Minnesota, David Linder and Jeremy Leif, were skiing with Chugach Powder Guides, a longtime Alaska heli-ski operator, when they were buried by the avalanche. A fourth member of the group survived.

The avalanche was the nation’s deadliest since 2023.

Troopers recovered the body of 39-year-old Linder, of Florida, from a log jam in a river flowing underneath the avalanche area on Oct. 3. The remains of Leif, 38, haven’t been found.