An Anchorage man has died after being swept up in an avalanche Wednesday afternoon.
Chad Christman, 41, was snowmachining on Blackstone Glacier, about nine miles southwest of Whittier when the accident occurred.
According to a dispatch from the Alaska State Troopers, two men saw the avalanche cover their friend and his machine. When it stopped, Christman was only partially buried.
Other people in the area rushed over to help and the group was able to dig Christman out and start CPR.
A helicopter from the Alaska Rescue and Coordination Center arrived on scene and transported Christman to an Anchorage hospital, but he did not survive the accident.
Chad Christman’s family members have been notified of his death.
Emily Russell is the voice of Alaska morning news as Alaska Public Media’s Morning News Host and Producer.
Originally from the Adirondacks in upstate New York, Emily moved to Alaska in 2012. She skied her way through three winters in Fairbanks, earning her Master’s degree in Northern Studies from UAF.
Emily’s career in radio started in Nome in 2015, reporting for KNOM on everything from subsistence whale harvests to housing shortages in Native villages. She then worked for KCAW in Sitka, finally seeing what all the fuss with Southeast, Alaska was all about.
Back on the road system, Emily is looking forward to driving her Subaru around the region to hike, hunt, fish and pick as many berries as possible. When she’s not talking into the mic in the morning, Emily can be found reporting from the peaks above Anchorage to the rivers around Southcentral.
