ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A teenager has died after triggering an avalanche, the fourth person killed in snow slides in Alaska this month.

Alaska State Troopers said the body of 16-year-old Tucker Challan of Soldotna was recovered from the avalanche Sunday by the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group.

Troopers said a group of snowmachiners were riding Saturday on the backside of Seattle Ridge in Turnagain Pass, a popular winter recreation area about 60 miles southeast of Anchorage.

Challan was buried about 10-feet deep in the slide that measured about 500 feet wide, said Wendy Wagner, director of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center.

Conditions are worrisome because a weak layer is located about 3 feet beneath the snow surface, with newer snow falling on top of the weak layer.

Challan rode over a weak layer of snow that was buried under newer snow, about midslope, Wagner said.

The avalanche center has been warning people of this weak layer for weeks.

“It’s still unsafe,” Wagner said.

— The Associated Press