ANCHORAGE, Alaska—Rescuers on Tuesday picked up two skiers stranded on an Alaska glacier for four days, and the experienced outdoor enthusiasts were in good condition after braving fierce winds and snow by digging a snow cave for shelter.
The Alaska Air National Guard says a break in snowy, windy weather allowed its helicopter to land shortly after noon Tuesday to pick up Jennifer Neyman and Christopher Hanna.
The pair are in good condition. They had been stuck on Bear Glacier since Friday and dug a snow cave for shelter.
The Guard says rescuers aboard the helicopter assessed the health of Neyman and Hanna before they were flown to a hospital for care.
They got stranded after an airplane dropped them off for a day of skiing and hiking. Bad weather that night prevented the airplane from coming back to pick them up.
The helicopter crew Tuesday morning spotted skis posted on Bear Glacier. They are believed to mark the entrance of a snow cave dug for shelter by Neyman and Hanna.
Weather conditions did not allow the helicopter to land at that time, and the crew returned to Anchorage to refuel.
The Guard’s Rescue Coordination Center received satellite text message from the two that they were “OK.” There was no word on whether they had been able to access supplies, including sleeping bags, food, fuel and a radio, all in a lighted package, dropped by Guard airplane on Monday night.
A crew of Air Guard personnel on Monday night was dropped off by helicopter 15 miles from the site. They hiked to within 6.5 miles of the skiers and stopped for the evening. They started again Tuesday and hoped to reach the skiers by late morning. But they faced continued bad weather that affected higher elevations on the eastern Kenai Peninsula.
Sam Albanese, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service Anchorage office, said blizzard conditions were being recorded at a weather station near Wolverine Glacier about 28 miles northeast of Bear Glacier. The temperature recorded at Wolverine Glacier in late morning was 31 degrees with snow and southeast winds of 30 mph, gusting to 42 mph.
Easterly wind pushed moisture-laden air into the region from Prince William Sound, Albanese said. As the air hit mountains, it rose and cooled, condensing the moisture and creating clouds or snow.
Winds were forecast to come from the north and diminish to 15-25 mph by early evening. Skies would be less cloudy, Albanese said, giving rescue crews a better shot at landing.
“The precipitation will stop, and the (cloud) ceilings will be much higher,” he said.
Neyman, 36, and Hanna, 45, are experienced outdoors enthusiasts. Though planning to spend just one day on the glacier, they carried a light tent and two days of provisions.
Their tent was shredded Saturday in strong wind and snow. They dug snow shelters, but they reported running out of fuel for their cook stove.
Neyman and Hanna used cellphone calls and satellite text messages to communicate with friends and rescuers. Satellite coordinates indicated the duo are on the 13-mile-long glacier at an elevation of about 4,300 feet.
The Harding Ice Field covers 700 square miles of Alaska’s Kenai Mountains in glacier ice, according to the National Park Service. The ice field is the largest entirely within U.S. boundaries.
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