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Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve (AK)
Hypothermic Hiker and Partner Rescued

On Thursday September 16th, Kennecott District DR Marshall Neeck received a report of overdue hikers from Gary Green, a local air taxi operator. On the previous Monday, Green had flown Rebecca Bard, 29, and Dana Engen, 27, to a remote airstrip high on the Chitistone River. They planned to hike across the plateau to the Nizina River drainage, where he would pick them up at another remote strip on Wednesday.

The area was hit by a strong storm that dumped up to two feet of snow on the plateau on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, Green flew to the pickup point, but found no sign of Bard and Engen. Low clouds and continuing storms impeded his efforts to find them by air. He tried again on Thursday, but had no luck so returned to McCarthy and reported the pair overdue.

Neeck flew out to the area with another air taxi operator and soon located the couple, who were on route and heading toward their destination. Since they seemed to be moving along okay and gave no indications of any problems, rangers decided to monitor their progress, then pick them up at the airport.

Chitina Area ranger/pilot Rich Richotte flew over the couple later in the afternoon. He noted that they hadn’t made much progress and were now waving frantically at the aircraft. Due to the deteriorating weather, their location, and his knowledge of the route, Richotte recommended immediate evacuation by helicopter. Within 90 minutes, an Astar helicopter from Valdez with Neeck on board arrived on scene.

Neeck found that Bard was hypothermic due to a fall she had taken into a creek. All of her clothes were wet and her sleeping bag was completely soaked. Neeck treated her for hypothermia, then evacuated the couple to McCarthy. Neither was prepared for the winter weather. They were out of food and fuel and were unable to start a fire due to the heavy rain and snow. Temperatures were in the 20s and the weather was deteriorating. If Bard had stayed out another night, she would likely have become severely hypothermic.
Tom Betts was incident commander for the search, which was managed together with Alaska state troopers. [Submitted by Tom Betts, Acting Chief Ranger/Pilot]