PRELIMINARY: An avalanche was triggered on Tuesday afternoon, February 13, by a group of three backcountry skiers on John Mtn in the Kenai Mountains. The party was ascending the slope when they triggered an avalanche that propagated 100-200 feet above them. All three members were caught and carried in the avalanche. Two of the three people involved sustained injuries and the third did not survive. The avalanche was roughly 150 feet wide and ran for 700 vertical feet, failing on a layer of weak faceted snow roughly 2 feet deep at the crown. The recent sustained strong easterly winds had likely loaded the start zone, adding stress to that weak layer.
The Alaska State Troopers, US Forest Service Law Enforcement, Cooper Landing EMS, and Moose Pass EMS responded to the incident. Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center forecasters visited the site the following day (Feb. 14) to collect preliminary field data. We will publish a full report on this incident by the end of next week (around Feb. 23).
These are extremely difficult times and our deepest condolences go out to the friends and family of the deceased.
Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center report