Skier rescued in Alaskan backcountry after bear attack

A skier who was maimed by a brown bear was taken to safety out of the Alaskan backcountry over the weekend, officials said.

The man was stable in a hospital after Saturday’s dismemberment on a mountain northwest of Haines, in the southeastern part of the state near the top of the Alaska panhandle, the Coast Guard said and state soldiers.

The skier, injured in the head and hands, was airlifted by a crew of Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters, the Guard said in a statement.

He was attacked as he and two other skiers were climbing a mountain to ski down and unknowingly fell into a den with a brown bear and his cubs, the Alaska State Troopers said in a report.

The bear left the den, attacked one of the skiers who rolled down the hill, and then left, the soldiers said.

The skiers were about 1,600 feet above sea level in what has been described as steep terrain. The other two skiers were uninjured and descended the mountain on their own, officials said.

The Coast Guard said it was well prepared and able to call for help in the 15 degree weather as sunset quickly approached.

“Their satellite communication device provided the precise GPS coordinates and elevation of their location. Equally important, they had a brightly colored fabric to signal the approaching helicopter, ”Lt. Cmdr of the Coast Guard. Will Sirokman, who was a co-pilot in the rescue, said in a statement. “It was absolutely crucial for us to find them in a timely manner.”

The State Department of Fish and Game said bear attacks were rare.

In a 2019 study of bear attacks in the state, the Alaska Epidemiology Section identified 10 deaths in eight bear attacks between 2000 and 2017.

Sixty-eight people were hospitalized with injuries from 66 bear attacks during that time, according to the report. The authors noted that there were significant limitations in his review, such as injuries treated in the field and varying levels of detail in fatality reports.

At least two people were killed by bears in Alaska in 2020. A man was killed near Hope on July 26, the State Department of Fish and Game said, and a man from Ohio during the report. a moose hunting trip was killed by a bear in September in Wrangell. -St. Elias National Park and Reserve.