2m hand portable saves Alaskan hiker

Two hikers on a day outing in the rugged mountains of Alaska's Chugach State Park, had a recent afternoon turn into something entirely unexpected.

This, when one of them slipped and fell more than 200 feet
down a steep ravine, losing his snow-shoes along the way. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW picks up the story from here:

Jesse Jones, KL1RK found himself trapped between a low overhang and a swift moving winters stream. The loss of his snow shoes meant he could not walk out. His position was made worse by the fact that his fall could continue into the water. With the outside air temperature near minus 10 degrees, that would likely mean his freezing death.

Fortunately KL1RK had brought along a 2 meter H-T. After trying a few repeaters he finally accessed the WL7CVG machine. His call for help was heard by Jim Wiley, KL7CC. Wiley dialed 911 and passed the information to the local rescue coordinator. He in turn called out the mountain
rescue group and the Alaska State Troopers.

When the rescue team arrived they realized additional help would be needed. At this point, the local Air National Guard unit was called. They responded by sending out a rescue helicopter.

The chopper arrived on scene at 6:45 PM local time. Unfortunately a high voltage power line directly above Jones position made it impossible to lift him out. Instead, the copter lowered a group of para-rescue personnel to a nearby location from there they rappelled down to Jones position. The team then worked with others on scene, and were able to bring Jones by about 10:00 PM.

He was taken to a local hospital for observation and released just before midnight, cold and a bit hungry, but otherwise all right.

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