ANG crew rescues climber from Nabesna Glacier

  • Published
  • By Army Spc. Kelsea Vandergriff
  • Alaska National Guard
CAMP DENALI, Alaska (AFPN) --  When you are a pararescuemen with the Alaska Air National Guard’s 210th Rescue Squadron, a day at the office does not take on its usual meaning, and June 2 was no exception.

The Rescue Coordination Center here was notified early that morning that a young woman with the National Outdoor Leadership School was in medical distress at 9,000 feet on the Wrangell Mountains, in the Wrangell Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, near the Canadian border.

Initially, RCC officials dispatched an Alaska Air National Guard HC-130 Hercules rescue tanker and HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter at about 7 a.m.

The 17-year-old female climber was suffering from severe acid reflux disease. Though she was conscious and resting, a doctor from Providence Alaska Medical Center recommended she be evacuated from the glacier and taken to a hospital as soon as possible.

But the weather was not on the same side as the rescuers. The helicopter crew was unable to reach the climber because of adverse conditions and zero visibility. Meanwhile, the Guard added another aircraft to rescue mission. A C-130 Hercules, from the 144th Airlift Squadron was dispatched to provide logistical support.

“Though this wasn’t an exceptionally rare mission, what made it remarkable was the length of the operation paired with the challenge of high altitude and the distance from Anchorage,” said Lt. Col. Charles Foster, commander of the 210th Air Rescue Squadron. “It was our air-refueling capabilities that even made this mission possible.”

Because the helicopters hovered around 10,000 feet for such a long time, the crew had to maintain a proper balance of fuel. The helicopters refueled in the air four times during the mission.

Pararescuemen were deployed to the 7,000-foot level and climbed to the climber when the Pave Hawk crew realized visibility would remain too poor to land at the site. Later, after climbing back down 2,000 feet, the team and climber were extracted by an HH-60 crew who had made it safely to the landing site. Subsequently, the woman was transferred to the HC-130 at Gulkana Airport for medical evacuation to Anchorage.

The 210th Rescue Squadron flies approximately 300 missions a year. As of the end of May, RCC officials have completed 88 missions resulting in 26 lives saved.