A 16-year-old boy has died in an Alaskan avalanche in the Turnagain Pass after his snow machine triggered the avalanche. The Alaska Mountain Rescue Group found and recovered the body of Tucker Challans of Soldotna, Alaska, on Sunday, March 23, 3025.
On Saturday, Alaskan State Troopers received a report from group of snowmachiners who were on the backside of Seattle Ridge and witnessed the incident. The group saw Challans trigger the avalanche and become buried alive.
People on the slope tried to rescue Challans.
Avalanche experts claim Challans was buried under 10 feet of snow, Alaska Public Media reports. The avalanche crown — or the part where the slab of snow separates from the snowpack above it — was 2 to 3 feet deep and 500 feet wide. According to a report on the incident from the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center, riders in the area were able to locate Challans and dig him out within an hour of the avalanche. Sadly, it was too late. He was already dead when they found him.
Challans was alone on the slope at the time of the avalanche. Wendy Wagner, director of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center told NBC News Challans ran over a weak layer, triggering the avalanche. The weak layer is 3 feet beneath the snow’s surface. New snow falls on top of it.
“These types of avalanches, they can be triggered when you’re on this slope,” she explained. “They can be triggered when you’re on the bottom of the slope and even the side or the top of a slope, because all you have to do is break that weak layer, and then that weak layer shoots out like dominoes and breaks into the slopes.”
Experts recommend people stay off the slopes.
These layers aren’t a danger on flat ground. They can be broken but wouldn’t trigger an avalanche because there’s no slope for the snow to run down. “When we have avalanche conditions like this, as avalanche professionals, we recommend people just stay on slopes that aren’t steep enough to slide, and then they don’t have to worry about triggering an avalanche, and sadly, this person was not in that scenario,” Wagner said. “They were on the edge of the slope and ended up being caught.”
This is not the first death on a slope this year.
This is not the first time an avalanche is this area has claimed a life in 2025. Earlier this month, on March 4, three heli-skiers were killed in an avalanche near Girdwood, about 40 miles south of Anchorage.
Until the layers change, Wagner is advising people to avoid the slopes. “It’s still unsafe,” Wagner said. “We are still recommending that people stick to the lower angle slopes because this is not something we want to mess with.”
