A 28-year-old Italian tourist was killed when he was crushed by a large piece of ice that broke from a glacier , Alaska state troopers say . Troopers say Alexander Hellweger died on Sunday shortly after 5pm at the head of Lake George Glacier , north of Anchorage . Hellweger , from Bruneck , Italy , was on a week-long vacation in Alaska with seven friends from Italy and Belgium . Alexander Hellweger , pictured above two days ago , from Bruneck , Italy , was on a trip with friends when a large piece of ice from a glacier fell and crushed him . The body of the 28-year-old , pictured above last year , was not immediately retrieved because of diminishing light and the danger of more ice breaking . Hellweger ( third from the right ) , pictured last week , was on a week-long vacation in Alaska with seven friends from Belgium and Italy . Guides had transported seven members of the party by helicopter to the backcountry to do heliskiing , or off-trail skiing and snowboarding accessed by helicopter as opposed to ski lift . The party was later transported to the glacier site . While the group was viewing the glacier up close , a piece of ice calved off the glacier and crushed Hellweger , according to Alaska Dispatch News . The eight friends were visiting the head of Lake George Glacier , north of Anchorage , when Hellweger was crushed . A friend of Hellweger 's , Johan Maesen , wrote on Facebook that the group went to Alaska as eight 'enthusiastic young people for an unforgettable adventure ' , but they will only return as a group of seven . Johan Maesen , a friend of Hellweger 's from Belgium who was on the trip , expressed his sadness on Facebook on Monday . 'We came up with 8 enthusiastic young people for an unforgettable adventure , we return not back with 7 people , ' he wrote . Hellweger 's body was not retrieved because of diminishing light and the danger of more ice breaking off . Troopers say they have made arrangements to recover the body later . Hellweger 's family has been notified and arrangements .
Alexander Hellweger , 28 , died on Sunday after he was crushed by a piece of ice that had broke off of a glacier north of Anchorage , state troopers said . He was on a vacation with seven friends from Belgium and Italy . The group had been heliskiing just before visiting Lake George Glacier . His body was not immediately retrieved because of lack of light and fear of falling ice .