By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A helicopter from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka rescued a 28-year-old paraglider from a high peak near Haines late Sunday after the man injured his ankle in a “hard landing.”
The air station received a call at 10:10 p.m. Sunday and launched a helicopter about a half hour later.
The paraglider had used his cell phone to call emergency responders in Haines, saying he had hurt his ankle in the hard landing, and was “cold, wet and dehydrated” in a large snowy area on Mt. Ripinski, the Coast Guard said.
The man told the Haines EMS team that he was not prepared to spend the night on the remote mountainside, but was trying to light a fire. Haines responders called the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard crew flew to the area, about 150 miles north of Sitka, and located the injured man at the 2,500 to 3,000 foot level of the mountain. He was hoisted into the helicopter and delivered to emergency care providers in Haines. The helicopter then returned to Sitka.
Not all times were available for each step of the mission, but the operation took three hours and the crew was back at base by 1:10 a.m. today, the Coast Guard said.
