Two hikers who were stranded on a glacier on the southern Kenai Peninsula since Friday night, were rescued by crews with the Alaska Air National Guard just after noon on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, says that 36-year-old Jennifer Neyman of Wrangell, and 45-year-old Christopher Hanna of Soldotna were released to medical personnel at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna and are both reported to be in good condition.
Bad weather and difficult terrain hampered efforts to find the two for three days, but last night four Alaska Air National Guard rescuers were delivered by helicopter onto the glacier and camped overnight, then set out toward the hikers’ location.
A helicopter dropped the crew about 15 miles north of the two hikers who dug snow caves after their tent failed. A plane also dropped supplies to the stranded hikers.
Rescue crews had been looking for Neyman and Hanna who were stranded on Friday after they flew out to the glacier to hike and ski. The plane that was supposed to pick them up Friday evening could not return due to bad weather, according to an Alaska State Trooper Dispatch. Neyman and Hanna had been communicating through an inReach satellite locator beacon as well as by cell phone.
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
