A skier killed in a British Columbia, Canada, avalanche on Friday has been identified as the 45-year-old son of Ron Sheardown, a well-known Anchorage businessman.

The elder Sheardown is the founder of Greatland Exploration, a former president of the Alaska Miners Association, and a well-known adventurer who led eight expeditions to the North Pole. His son, Ronald Greg Sheardown, inherited the lust for adventure along with his father's interest in mining. Both were graduates of the University of Alaska Fairbanks school of mining.

Greg, as the younger Sheardown was known, went on to complete an MBA at the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and find success in international business. He had recently been named chief executive officer for Lafarge Group operations in the Persian Gulf. He was supposed to take up the new position in early 2012, The Globe and Mail of Canada reported.

Lafarge is a cement and aggregate giant. Despite the success in the world of global business, Greg never lost touch with his frontier roots or his love of the mountains. Like some other highly successful northern businessmen, he'd become a regular visitor to the Selkirk Mountains where the skiing is legendary.

The 45-year-old skier "was on his annual heli-skiing trip Friday afternoon when an avalanche suddenly roared down the Selkirk run in the Holyk Creek drainage near Revelstoke, B.C.,'' the Globe and Mail reported. "It was the second-day of a week-long ski trip. He was with 10 other skiers and a guide from Canadian Mountain Holidays when a wall of snow buried him and partially covered three others. They escaped uninjured, but Mr. Sheardown, married for about two decades and the father of three young boys, was pronounced dead at the local hospital.

The B.C. Coroner’s Service is investigating with the help of the Revelstoke Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The avalanche is believe to have been triggered by the skiers.