Three skiers feared dead in an avalanche in Alaska on Thursday were connected to Minnesota.
The victims were identified as 38-year-old Jeremy Leif, a Minnesota resident; 39-year-old David Linder, originally from Mankato, who most recently lived in Miami; and 39-year-old Charlie Eppard, a Gustavus Adolphus College alum, as confirmed by a college spokesperson.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) released their names. Linder, an experienced skier and owner of Sub Arctic Media— which operates over 20 radio stations across Minnesota—was on a helicopter ski trip with friends. Managing partner Matt Ketelsen described Linder as a devoted family man, always focused on his three sons. Linder had moved to Florida for law school and worked remotely as the company owner.
His father, John Linder, was a renowned radio station executive in Minnesota, and after his father’s passing in 2018, David took over his role. Ketelsen spoke of Linder’s deep community involvement and his passion for his family.
Leif’s city of residence wasn’t provided, though his LinkedIn profile lists him as being from Minneapolis.
The Alaska Wildlife Troopers were alerted to the avalanche near the west fork of Twenty Mile River, south of Anchorage, at 5:10 p.m. Tuesday. The Chugach Powder Guides heli-skiing company used avalanche beacons to determine the area where the skiers were buried beneath up to 100 feet of snow.
Due to the snow depth, recovery efforts were unsuccessful. The operation was halted on Tuesday evening due to considerable avalanche risk and diminishing daylight. Weather conditions the next day delayed recovery efforts, but on Thursday, teams attempted aerial assessments of the area.
The Avalanche Information Center in Chugach National Forest issued a warning for “very dangerous avalanche conditions” due to a weak snow layer beneath a thick outer layer, making for an unstable situation where further avalanches were likely.
Leave a Reply