Marine OK after glacier slip

July 31, 2007

By Hannah Guillaume

Frontiersman

HATCHER PASS - A Marine who survived Iraq's deserts discovered this past weekend he could also survive Alaska's wilderness.

Sean Smith-Kearon, 23, of Fort Edward, New York, hiked to Mint Glacier where he became lost, fell and slid down Bomber Glacier. He then ate a porcupine to survive, said Kym Miller, a Hatcher Pass park ranger.

“He was just way in over his head,” she said. “We wish he'd have been able to read a map.”

Smith-Kearon wore warm clothing and survived because he was in top-physical condition after his recent tour in Iraq, Miller said.

Alaska State Trooper HELO-1, Alaska Mountain Rescue volunteers and Alaska Search and Rescue Dogs responded Saturday, according to trooper reports released on Sunday.

“He told his cousin [Michael Zuyus] he would be back around 3 o'clock,” said Megan Peters, a trooper spokeswoman.

Zuyus, 36, of Palmer told troopers that his cousin called to say he would be five or six hours late, Peters said. At 5:42 a.m. on Saturday, Zuyus called troopers to help search.

Searchers discovered Smith-Kearon had written a message in the log book at the Bomber Hut that said he was a “mis-orientated hiker” and was heading downstream, she said. He couldn't read the topographical map at the hut, and Smith-Kearon told her he didn't realize he was on a glacier when he began falling and sliding down Bomber.

The search party followed clues of his passing and discovered Smith-Kearon at 4 p.m. on Bartholf Creek a mile from the Kashwitna River Confluence, Miller said. He would have had to hike 32 more miles to reach the Parks Highway near Talkeetna had he not been found.

“He was in terrible country - big, high bushes over his head,” she said. “He did take really good care of himself out there - in that he stayed alive.”

Smith-Kearon reported no injuries, according to trooper reports. Miller said he doesn't have to pay for the helicopter-search crew.

Hikers that head off trails should know how to read topographical maps, navigate glaciers and have experience in the terrain they go for, Miller said. “We're just really to glad we found him in good shape.”

Contact Hannah Guillaume at 352-2284 or hannahguillaume@yahoo.com.