Snowmachiner injured in Hatcher Pass fall

MAT-SU — A 16-year-old Wasilla boy is recovering from injuries he suffered Wednesday at Hatcher Pass after he was tossed from his snowmachine while riding down a steep incline.

Nate Pokryfki, 16, is recovering from a closed-head injury at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

Dennis Heikes of the Alaska Division of Parks and Recreation said Pokryfki was snowmachining with two friends around 5 p.m. in the upper Willow Creek area when he hit a boulder hidden under the snow. His snowmachine went airborne for approximately 40 feet, throwing Pokryfki from the machine.

Another snowmachiner, Scot Gilaland of Anchorage, dug the teen-ager out, cleared the snow from his mouth and gave him a rescue breath. He was taken in a sled to a Lifeguard helicopter, which flew him to the hospital.

On Friday, Pokryfkis condition was improving and he was taken out of the intensive care unit, Heikes said.