Fairbanks Snow Travelers

Two snowmachiners rescued from deep snow in Alaska Range

Published February 22, 2009
By Amanda Bohman

FAIRBANKS -- Two snowmachiners who became stuck in deep snow near Summit Lake in the Alaska Range were airlifted to an Anchorage hospital early Sunday for unspecified cold-weather injuries. Alaska State Trooper Sgt. Brian Wassmann said a distress call came in to troopers about 4:20 p.m. on Saturday.

Greg Champlin, 37, and a snowmachiner whose identity is still being confirmed had reportedly become stuck in 2- to 3-feet of fresh snow in the Hoodoo Mountains about 180 miles south of Fairbanks.

The Alaska Rescue Coordinator Center was contacted, and a military Black Hawk helicopter retrieved the men at about 12:20 a.m. Sunday and took them to Providence Alaska Medical Center, Wassmann said.

Capt. Russ Edwards of the Alaska Air National Guard said the men's injuries included frostbite.

Champlin was treated at the emergency room and released, according to a source at the hospital.

A forecaster with the National Weather Service said high winds were reported in the Summit Lake area late Saturday.

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Snowmachiner collapses and dies after digging out near Petersville

The Associated Press

Published: February 22nd, 2009 08:52 PM
Last Modified: February 22nd, 2009 08:52 PM

A 43-year-old snowmachiner from Anchorage has died of an apparent heart attack northwest of Talkeetna. Alaska State Troopers say Eric Logan had been riding his snowmachine in the area with friends Saturday when he got stuck.

Logan spent about 10 minutes digging the machine out and then headed to the Forks Roadhouse in Petersville after telling his friends he didn't feel well.

According to troopers, Logan collapsed as he walked into the roadhouse.

Three off-duty Anchorage police officers were at the roadhouse and performed CPR on Logan for about an hour.

When they were unable to revive him, Logan was pronounced dead.

3 deaths in the kotzebue area within a 2 week period. My cousin and my friend left a village traveling, got caught in a storm and were not seen alive again, this happened about 2 weeks ago. Weather was so bad the search and rescue couldnt get the c-130 with flir up for 3 days.

polaris800rider wrote: My cousin and my friend left a village traveling, got caught in a storm and were not seen alive again

Sorry for your lose, give our condolensence to the family.

john wrote: Greg Champlin, 37, and a snowmachiner whose identity is still being confirmed had reportedly become stuck in 2- to 3-feet of fresh snow in the Hoodoo Mountains about 180 miles south of Fairbanks.

This re-enforces the need to be prepared. A lot of us ride in the HooDoos and it doesn't take all that much to have survival gear along. I know some guys say they don't want the extra weight on their sleds, but an emergency blanket and some sort of heat source goes a long way. I carry an emergency blanket for everyone in my immediate group i.e. wife, grandson, myself (well I make them carry it) and a couple of candles. I now also carry one of those small survival cans from Arctic Safety, they weight all of 6 to 8 oz or so and have enough in them for one person for one day, I might start carrying two.

Sorry to hear of your loss, condolensence to you and your family.

Here is what I heard in Paxon:

The two guys who got stuck in the Hoodoos were relatively new riders. They went into the mountains wearing cotton - jeans and sweatshirts. The two more experienced rider who were with them both left them to go for help when the two new riders could not get unstuck. The two stuck riders had no survival gear.

Paul

One of my co-workers was one of the guys who recovered the two sleds out of Summit. He rode his 121" IQ in there with a buddy and they had the stuck sleds on the trail in 20min.
Deffinately a lack of experience in this case. Glad it didn't end up worse.