Authorities have identified three men who died Tuesday after being buried by a massive avalanche during a guided heli-skiing trip in the Chugach Mountains near Girdwood.

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. They were clients of Chugach Powder Guides, a longtime Alaska heli-ski operator.

A fourth member of the group, which was guided, 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.

Chugach Powder Guides said guides and helicopters searched for the three missing men immediately after the avalanche but left about an hour later due to safety concerns and the challenging conditions. Wind prevented troopers from flying the area Wednesday.

Troopers said they, along from avalanche and recovery experts, will try to conduct an aerial assessment of the slide Thursday to “determine additional avalanche danger and recovery options.”

Avalanche forecasters at the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center this week said a “touchy” snowpack had led to many human-triggered avalanches in recent days 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.

A storm that overloaded the weak layer with new snow has increased avalanche danger to “high” above 1,000 feet, the center said: very dangerous conditions with travel not recommended in any avalanche terrain.