Eric Walter, 32, had been backcountry skiing in the park alone Thursday when the avalanche occurred, according to a statement from park officials Friday.
A park employee at the Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska died in an avalanche while skiing in the place he worked, the National Parks Service announced.
Eric Walter, 32, had been backcountry skiing in the park alone Thursday when the avalanche occurred, according to a statement from park officials Friday.
Around 1 p.m. an individual reported to the park’s kennels staff that they observed a skier trigger an avalanche on an unnamed slope south of Jenny Creek and east of Savage River, according to the statement.
Once rangers were notified they went to the area and found two skis, one vertical, one lying flat on the surface, as well as an orange bag in a debris field in the avalanche area, the statement said.
Officials said that once rangers reached the scene it was determined that the skier had died and was later identified as Eric Walter.
"Our thoughts are with Eric's family in this challenging time," says Superintendent Brooke Merrell, "We are also incredibly grateful for the professional and compassionate response of our Talkeetna mountaineering team.”
Walter was described as an avid outdoorsman and an experienced backcountry skier, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Maureen Gualtieri, a spokeswoman for the park, spoke to Anchorage Daily News and remembered her colleague.
“With someone like Eric, who was a park dispatcher, they’re so instrumental to our daily operations — as dispatchers and radio personnel, they’re kind of almost always in the room with us, so to speak,” Gualtieri said. “So it’s a profound loss throughout the park on every level.”
Walter is the first person to die in an avalanche in Alaska this season, according to the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center.
His death also marks the first this year within the national park, according to Anchorage Daily News.
