Troopers identified the three missing skiers caught in the avalanche as David Linder, Charles Eppard and Jeremy Leif.

Authorities in Alaska say they will attempt Thursday to reach the site of an avalanche that trapped three skiers earlier this week.

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 Wildlife Troopers said an avalanche buried three skiers under a blanket of snow between 40 and 100 feet deep in a small resort town.

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.

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 dozens of feet of snow

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

Efforts to recover the three men who died in an avalanche Tuesday while they were on a guided heli-ski trip in the Chugach Mountains near Girdwood were halted because of dangerous conditions and difficult terrain — and may not resume until conditions improve,

The group was traveling with guides from a commercial heli-skiing operation, which escorts backcountry skiers via helicopter to the tops of mountains that are otherwise inaccessible.

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.