A helicopter dropped the crew about 15 miles north of the two who dug snow caves after their tent failed.
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A pair of stranded hikers who took shelter in a snow cave on a glacier on the southern coast of Alaska were rescued on Tuesday, bringing an end to their four-day ordeal, officials said.
The pair used cellphone and satellite text messages to tell friends they spent the first night in the tent they carried until wind and snow shredded it on Saturday.
The hikers, Alaska residents Christopher Hanna, 45, and Jennifer Neyman, 36, were flown to a hospital in the nearby town of Soldotna where they will be evaluated, Halla said. As the air hit mountains, it rose and cooled, condensing the moisture and creating clouds or snow.
A helicopter crew on Tuesday spotted the hikers’ skis, and officials received a text message from the two saying they were in good shape. They dug snow shelters but were running out of fuel for their cook stove.
A break in the weather Tuesday allowed an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter to land on Bear Glacier about 70 miles south of Anchorage to reach Jennifer Neyman and Christopher Hanna.
The Harding Ice Field covers 700 square miles of Alaska’s Kenai Mountains in glacier ice, according to the National Park Service. Neyman and Hanna had been communicating through an inReach satellite locator beacon as well as by cell phone.
An HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter from the 210th Rescue Squadron, Alaska Air National Guard, at Ice Camp Sargo on the Arctic Circle, March 17, during Ice Exercise 2016.
“The terrain there is pretty gnarly”, said Calabro, 38, who also was the helicopter pilot on Monday’s attempt to rescue the two skiers. It is home to more than 30 glaciers.
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