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Snow storms
created "white-on-white" conditions, thwarting previous attempts
to reach the pair by air and prompting a ground crew to scale
the glacier to try to rescue them on foot, said Alaska Air
National Guard spokesman Staff Sergeant Edward Eagerton.
On Tuesday, under clearer skies, a HH-60 Pave Hawk military
helicopter landed on Bear Glacier and rescued the hikers in the
remote Kenai Mountains, said guard spokeswoman Technical
Sergeant Alicia Halla.
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.
On Friday, the hikers were dropped off by airplane on the
Harding Icefield in the Kenai Mountains for a day of hiking and
skiing, according to the National Guard.
But their outing took a dangerous turn when the weather quickly
worsened and their pilot was unable to land to pick them up, the
National Guard said in a statement.
The hikers, who were experienced in the outdoors, stayed in
touch with friends and emergency officials by using their cell
phones and a satellite-based text messaging device.
After their tent came apart, they took cover in a snow cave on
Bear Glacier at an elevation of 4,300 feet (1,311 meters),
according to the National Guard.
Halla could not immediately say if the rescuers on the ground
reached the hikers before the helicopter landed on the glacier
to pick up the pair.
(Editing by Alistair Bell and Andrew Hay)
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