13 JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska Members of the Alaska Air National Guard’s search and rescue aircrew and pararescue teams saved two stranded hikers on Rainbow Peak trail early this morning, after one hiker experienced an injury and was unable to continue hiking for several hours as nightfall and colder temperatures set in.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center received a call from a local air ambulance company after they were unable to reach the hikers, who were half-way down the popular trail southeast of Anchorage. After confirming an official request from the Alaska State Troopers, the AKRCC requested support from the Alaska Air National Guard’s rescue squadrons, which are able to fly in the dark with night vision goggles and send highly trained pararescue personnel down to survivors via hoist from an HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopter.
2 stranded hikers, including 1 injured, are rescued on Rainbow Peak Author: Anchorage Daily News
Print article Two hikers were rescued from the Rainbow Peak trail south of Anchorage early Saturday morning after one of them sustained an injury that left them stranded, the Alaska Air National Guard said. They were hoisted up into a rescue helicopter and flown to Providence Alaska Medical Center, arriving just before 1:30 a.m., the Guard said in a statement. An air ambulance company originally attempted to reach the hikers, who were halfway down the trail, but was unable to do so, according to the Guard. The company called the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, which then requested support from the Alaska Air National Guard’s rescue squadrons. They have the capability to fly in the dark as well as hoist down pararescue personnel to reach survivors, the Guard said.