The Air National Guard reports that they have a helicopter with the 210th Rescue Squadron poised at the base of Bear Glacier in the Harding Ice Fields ready to fly up to the rescue of of two stranded hikers as soon as the weather clears enough to do so.

Terrain and weather are prohibiting rescue from the ground it is reported.

It was on Saturday that troopers contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center to advise them that “two individuals were in need of rescue on the Harding Ice Fields.” Alaska State Troopers had originally intended to carry out the rescue operation themselves, but weather and terrain prohibited them from carrying out the operation.[xyz-ihs snippet=”adsense-body-ad”]

After receiving the report from troopers, the Air National  Guard launched an HH-60G Pave Hawk from the 210th Rescue Squadron with four rescue personnel from the 212th, and a HC-130 King aircraft from the 211th. They searched for a way to reach the stranded hikers on the Harding Glacier, but blowing snow and low ceilings hindered their success.

When the hikers contacted troopers on Saturday using their DeLorme InReach beacon, they reported that they had constructed a make-shift shelter after their tent failed, and that they were running short on supplies. The coordinates given by their device showed that they were at the 4,300 foot level of the Bear Glacier.

AST has yet to release the names of the stranded hikers.

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