Climber rescued from Matanuska Peak

A Friday outing on Matanuska Peak ended in an Alaska National Guard helicopter rescue for a 20-year-old hiker from Utah.

Elin Isakson, a Provo resident living in Anchorage for the summer, was in stable condition Monday morning at Valley Hospital three days after she snapped her ankle while sliding down a steep snow chute on the 6,149-foot peak.

One of her companions hiked down the mountain and reported the incident to Alaska State Troopers at 5:07 p.m., according to the troopers.

The troopers, in turn, reported the accident to the Rescue Coordination Center, at Camp Denali, at 5:30 p.m., said Major Mike Haller, public affairs officer for the Alaska Air National Guard, in a release.

The Rescue Coordination Center directed the 210th Rescue Squadron to launch an HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter, along with two pararescuers, to Isakson. They stopped en route at the Palmer Airport and picked up the person whod called in the original report to the troopers a move that saved time in getting the would-be rescuers to the exact site, Haller said in the release.

The helicopter took two of the climbers, who were waiting near Isakson and suffering from hypothermia, down to the airport.

Weather conditions deteriorated to such an extent that the helicopter had to move away from the mountain, losing visual contact with rescuers, Isakson and her other friends.

The RCC made a decision to direct the launch of the HC-130 Hercules Rescue Tanker to bring two more PJs (rescuers) to Palmer and also provide additional aerial refueling for the Pavehawk helicopter, Haller said.

The move panned out the cloud cover thinned out just enough for the Pavehawk crew to pluck the injured woman from the mountain, Haller said.