Yellow Pages
* Updated *
Two hikers who had been stranded at Spire Point in the North Cascades mountains have been rescued and appear to be in fair condition, authorities say.
Crewmen aboard a U.S. Navy helicopter based out of NAS Whidbey found a suitable landing zone in the area of Spire Point around 2 p.m., according to a news release from the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office.
The hikers, Matthew Edwards, 33, and Robin Gibson, 27, were brought to safety after a rescue team determined that they could travel about three miles to a landing zone below the cloud level.
Rescue volunteers from Whatcom and Skagit Counties had previously been able to assist them down to a landing zone that was below the cloud ceiling and approximately 3 miles from where they were initially stranded.
The hikers were airlifted to the command post area set up in Concrete. They’ve been checked by a Navy paramedic, and initial reports indicated they will not have to be hospitalized.
Relatives were waiting for the pair as they exited the helicopter. The hikers declined to speak to the media, according to Will Reichardt, chief criminal deputy for the Sheriff’s Office.
The couple, who are from Massachussetts rather than Wisconsin as previously reported, were first reached at about 8:20 this morning, according to sheriff’s office.
The hikers were described as cold and wet but coherent.
The hikers had climbed to a safer ridge line Thursday afternoon, where they found some shelter from the wind while they awaited help from rescue workers. Edwards and Gibson spent almost 24 hours on an 18-inch ledge in the area of Spire Point northeast of Darrington before they were convinced by a rescue worker that they needed to find a safer place.
As military helicopters attempted to save them by air, and search and rescue workers hiked all day, the couple sparingly used their cell phone to talk with Skagit County sheriff’s deputies about their condition.
“They were very scared and very cold,” said Deputy Brad Holmes, Skagit County Search and Rescue coordinator. “They were asking for help and how far away we were.”
Edwards and Gibson told the deputies they couldn’t move up or down from the small ledge they were stuck on with no gear, and wet clothing.
But a mountain rescue worker convinced the couple to climb 200 to 400 feet to a safer, more visible place on a ridge, Holmes said.
“He convinced them, either you’re going to do this, or you’re going to die on that ledge,” Holmes said. “It was sort of that tough-love type of thing.”
An hour later, they called shouting and celebrating that they had made it to the ridge and found a rock that they made a shelter out of and would protect them from the wind.
Earlier attempts to reach them by helicopter were thrwarted by weather.
A command post has been set up at the Concrete airport, with emergency volunteers from Skagit, Whatcom and Pierce counties joining the effort along with the National Park Service.
The Snohomish County dispatch center received the first emergency call at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday when the hikers reported they were stranded on a ledge. The call was transferred to the Skagit County Sheriff’s jurisdiction.
Sheriff’s deputies and search and rescue personnel contacted the stranded hikers via cell phone. They learned that the two hikers had been descending when they lost their gear near Dana Glacier.
