Outdoors/Adventure

3 with hypothermia rescued by helicopter from Mount Marathon

Three Alaska Vocational Technical Center students were rescued from Seward's Mount Marathon late Thursday after one of the men took a tumble down the mountain, according to the Seward Fire Department.

Bryce Clark, 19, and Phillip Ling, 19, both of Wasilla, and Patrick King, 18, of Nikiski were all in the early stages of hypothermia when rescuers made contact with them, the fire department said.

"It could have been catastrophic," Seward Fire Chief Eddie Athey said in a phone interview Friday morning.

Athey said the three had been hiking a trail used in the annual July Fourth junior footraces on the mountain. When they turned around to descend, they went off the trail because "it looked easier."

Athey described the terrain the trio used as "much more treacherous" than the race trail.

Around 6 p.m., one of the men called 911 to report his fellow hiker injured. Emergency responders in Seward called troopers, who coordinated the dispatch of a helicopter from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson's Rescue Coordination Center and the 210th Squadron, Athey said.

Six people from the Seward Fire Department were the first on the mountain and were able to make contact with the hikers before the helicopter arrived.

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"It wasn't safe to send all of (the rescuers) down there, so we hoisted one rescuer to their location and he was able to medically assist the patient and provide blankets and warming devices," Athey said.

The rescuer used space blankets and made a fire, Athey said.

"Had we not been able to do what we did, they would have been in dire straits by the time folks with the helicopter got there."

Ling sustained non-life-threatening injuries to his right leg, as well as scratches and bruises from the fall.

The helicopter was able to hoist the hikers off the mountain at about 11 p.m. Thursday.

All three of the hikers were taken to Providence Seward Medical Center for further evaluation.

"They were at a point (where) we were formulating a Plan B and a Plan C because they could have had to spend the night there if the helicopter couldn't reach them," Athey said. "And once darkness hits, it's an entirely different ballgame."

None of the men had hiked the terrain before and none had packed appropriate supplies for the conditions or an overnight trip, Athey said.

Temperatures in Seward on Thursday were in the mid-20s during the day.

Mount Marathon's difficulty is commonly underestimated by first-time hikers, Athey said.

"We have lots of folks who routinely do it, but for someone who's never been up there, they should be prepared to spend the night."

Athey said hikers should bring a cellphone, food, water, warming gear and medical supplies on treks up Mount Marathon.

Megan Edge

Megan Edge is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News.

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