A hiker from Switzerland was rescued by the Alaska Air National Guard early Sunday morning, near Mount Marathon in Seward.
Alaska State Troopers in a Monday morning dispatch write that they were called Saturday evening, around 10 p.m., by 33-year-old Dennis Murer. He said that he’d climbed a mountain and gone beyond his ability — he could not return safely without assistance. Troopers found him “just shy” of an elevation of 4,000 feet, near the peak of Mount Marathon. Because there is no landing zone there, the National Guard was called.
A separate release from the National Guard says that a helicopter staffed by pararescuemen from the 212th Rescue Squadron was deployed from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. They found Murer and hoisted him from the cliff before releasing him to troopers at Seward Airport.
Troopers wrote that Maurer was brought to the airport at nearly 2 a.m., uninjured and not in need of medical attention.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
