Jeremy Leif and two friends were buried beneath at least 40 feet of snow in a Tuesday avalanche near the resort town of Girdwood.

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.

A trio of skiers is likely buried under an avalanche near Anchorage, Alaska, that occurred Tuesday afternoon, but dangerous backcountry conditions have so far stymied recovery operations, officials announced.

Alaska State Troopers continue to search for three backcountry skiers who are missing after an avalanche earlier this week.

The avalanche occurred late Tuesday afternoon near Girdwood, a skiing community about 40 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska.

Alaska State Troopers say three skiers who had flown by helicopter to a remote mountain range were swept away by an avalanche and likely killed under the weight of snow nearly as deep as a 10-story building.

Three heli-skiers were killed by a massive avalanche in Alaska's Chugach National Forest on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. The victims were buried by 40-100 feet of avalanche debris according to the professional backcountry guides with Chugach Powder Guides.

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.

Charlie Eppard, originally from Mankato, and Jeremy Leif are two of the three skiers who went missing following an avalanche near a ski resort in Alaska.

Officials at the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center have confirmed that three skiers on a heli-skiing tour died in an avalanche near Girdwood, Alaska, southeast of Anchorage, this week. The avalanche occurred on March 4 at about 3:30 pm.