Alaska Air Guardsmen rescue two skiers stranded on Harding Icefield

The Alaska Air National Guard has reported that its 210th, 211th and 212th Rescue Squadrons picked up two stranded skiers on the Harding Icefield near Seward, Alaska, on 12 April. The pair became stranded on Harding Icefield on 8 April after being dropped off by plane for a day of hiking and skiing. Weather prevented the pilot from being able to return to pick them up that evening.

The two skiers used a personal locater beacon with texting capability to contact a friend, who then contacted the Alaska State Troopers to notify them of their situation. The situation worsened when their tent failed on the first night due to high winds, and they were forced to dig a snow cave to protect themselves from the elements.

“Saturday evening [9 April], we received a call from the Alaska State Troopers asking for assistance to recover two skiers stranded on Harding Icefield,” explained Capt John Romspert, a senior controller with the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center. “Once it became an emergency, AST asked us to fly Saturday night.”

Weather continued to prevent a rescue mission from launching throughout the weekend, Romspert said. On the morning of Monday 11 April, the Alaska Air National Guard launched a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson with four 212th Rescue Squadron pararescuemen onboard. An HC-130 King aircraft from the 211th Rescue Squadron was also dispatched to provide air refuelling capabilities and provide a platform to monitor weather.

The aircrews spent the day flying nearby to monitor weather in the area. However, weather continued to prevent rescue efforts from reaching the two skiers, who had reported via text that they were out of food and fuel and were near hypothermic.

“Due to weather, the Pave Hawk was not able to land on the glacier close enough to the survivors,” explained Romspert, “so early [Monday] afternoon, we actually put a team of four pararescuemen on the glacier to travel 15 miles across the terrain in hopes to reach the survivors.”

During their overland movement, the pararescue team battled high winds and blowing snow for several hours until nightfall. They were within about six miles of the objective when they set up camp to rest for the evening.

The next day, the ground team resumed their push towards the skiers’ position, but before they could be reached, weather cleared enough so the Pave Hawk on scene could safely land near the stranded skiers. Pararescuemen onboard the Pave Hawk had to dig the skiers out of their snow cave, which had filled with snow from the blizzard-like conditions. They were evaluated on the scene and then flown to Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, where they were released to medical personnel in good condition.

Over the course of the mission, three HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters, two HC-130 King aircraft, and approximately 40 personnel from the Alaska Air National Guard were involved in the coordination and execution of the rescue.