Big Lake snowmachiners rescued

JOHN DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

HATCHER PASS - Three snowmachiners were rescued safely and without injuries Tuesday after spending Monday night on Bald Mountain Ridge in Hatcher Pass amid severe weather conditions of freezing rain and snow, Alaska State Troopers reported.

Rayman Becker, Johnnie Schleicher and Jack Haughton, all airmen at Elmendorf Air Force Base, were originally part of a group of six snowmachiners who were separated from their party somewhere near Bald Mountain on the Willow side of Hatcher Pass Monday evening.

That night, troopers dispatched a helicopter to search for the missing airmen but called off the effort after encountering extremely high winds and icy conditions.

"As we were trying to get up through where the rain and snow mixed and changed temperatures, [the helicopter] started icing up pretty bad," said Trooper Mark Agnew, who flew in the helicopter as a spotter Monday and Tuesday. "Once we got through the icing and into the snow, we had a visibility problem; it became difficult to tell where the ground was and we had to call it off."

A ground rescue team of troopers and volunteers on snowmachines also encountered severe conditions Monday, calling off their efforts at around 10:30 p.m. The three airmen were contacted by cell phone that night and reported no injuries.

Rescue efforts resumed Tuesday morning, with the troopers' helicopter flying search patterns throughout the day. Ground crews from the troopers, Alaska Air National Guard, Motor Mushers volunteer group and a number of volunteers from Elmendorf Air Force Base assisted in the rescue effort.

Weather conditions remained difficult throughout the search Tuesday; Hatcher Pass State Park officials measured 31/2 feet of new snow at Independence Mine from Monday to Tuesday.

Around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Agnew saw what appeared to be a flashing red light from a camera near the tree line on Bald Mountain Ridge. As Agnew was telling Helo-1 pilot Mel Nading where he saw the red light, a camera flash came through the trees from the same location.

"They were signaling us," Agnew said. "They had been going 90 degrees exactly the wrong direction from where they should've been going. They went to the extreme western edge of the pass, towards Willow. That's what made the search difficult; they weren't even near the area we were looking for them on Monday."

Agnew said the men had abandoned their snowmachines farther up the ridge and were walking downhill toward Willow. The men had no survival gear of any kind, Agnew said.

Nading, flying with infrared night-vision goggles in near-zero visibility conditions, dropped off Agnew about 300 yards from the airmen, who were in a stand of spruce trees where the helicopter couldn't land.

With 25 years of experience flying helicopters, Nading said Tuesday's weather was at the worst end of the spectrum.

"Just maintaining the aircraft upright was a challenge because of the high winds," Nading said. "Flying in high winds and snow and rain, at night, with goggles - it's a challenge; it keeps you busy."

After dropping Agnew off, Nading turned his spotlight on the airmen and instructed them by loudspeaker to move toward the light. Fog began to roll in during the rescue operation, further obscuring Nading's visibility.

"It was about the worst conditions you could have for night-vision goggles," Nading said. "It was workable, but it was right at the limit. On Tuesday the wind issue wasn't as bad as it was Monday night. Monday, I had about 35- to 40-knot winds. Moving over terrain, it produced a turbulence effect."

Agnew took snowshoes and an ax and traversed 300 yards through nearly five feet of rotten snow to the airmen's location, where he felled four or five spruce trees to clear a landing area for the helicopter.

"By the time I got the landing zone cleared, the weather had moved in and visibility was really difficult," Agnew said. "We got them on board but then had to fly right over the treetops with the landing lights on. Mel [Nading] flew in some very difficult conditions and he did a great job. Those were the worst conditions I've ever seen from the helo."

Troopers also launched a rescue effort Monday night for Wasilla resident Ronald Hildebrand Jr., 47, who was overdue returning to Big Lake from Yentna Station on snowmachine.

Ground searchers initially tried to search the trail system from Big Lake but encountered severe overflow conditions, troopers said.

Rescuers contacted the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center and requested rescue aircraft, but RCC was unable to launch immediately because of poor weather conditions in the area.

On Tuesday morning, ground search parties on snowmachines set out from Big Lake and Yentna Station and RCC launched a helicopter and an HC-130 aircraft.

Ground searchers located Hildebrand in the Big Lake area at around 11 a.m., troopers reported. Hildebrand was uninjured but told troopers he had lost his trail in the dark Monday night, waited for first light Tuesday, regained his bearings and rode toward Big Lake, where rescuers found him.

Contact John Davidson at john.davidson@frontiersman.com.