A man was rescued via helicopter near Seward’s Bear Mountain Thursday after his hiking partner left him.
The Soldotna Public Safety Communication Center received a call late Wednesday, August 5, from 30-year-old Claire Belmont.
She reported she was above treeline on Bear Mountain near Seward with 20-year-old Jahmai Phipps of Minnesota.
According to the trooper log, Belmont “stated that he was drunk and belligerent and she was trying to make her way back to Seward without him.”
The call center instructed her to call back at regular intervals to update her progress. She reported that as of 7:20 am Thursday morning she had returned home uninjured.
Belmont said she was concerned because Phipps remained on the mountain and had been insisting on hiking towards hazardous terrain on the mountain.
Phipps’ cell phone location was unable to be determined by GCI because he had not used it since the night before.
Alaska State Troopers’ Helo 2 located Phipps at approximately 12:45 pm Thursday afternoon.
He reported no injuries and was transported back to Seward.
