Weekend riders injured in Seward-area snowpack

CINTHIA RITCHIE

April 25, 2008 at 11:01AM AKST

Local rescue squads were kept busy this past weekend with two separate back-to-back snowmachine accidents April 20.

According to David Hayes, operations chief for the Bear Valley Fire Department, the first dispatch came in at 1:28 p.m. regarding an accident about two miles northeast of Lost Lake.

Kevin Cabalbal of Anchorage had lost control of his machine.

"My understanding is he went over a little bit of a jump and didn’t quite make the other side of the gully and jumped up and fell over on himself," Hayes said.

It took the crew, weighed down with hundreds of pounds of equipment and supplies, more than hour to get to Cabalbal. They arrived at 2:55 p.m.

"It’s not like alongside the road system when we run down and pick them right up," Hayes said.

The 210th and 212th Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Squadrons responded with an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter and pararescuemen. Cabalbal was taken to Providence Medical Center at 4:30 p.m.

The call was cleared at 5:30 p.m. and the crews headed home.

They were called back out again at 5:51 p.m., this time to the Johnson Pass area. According to National Guard reports, Joseph Brainard, 51, of Eagle River suffered a neck injury after riding off a cliff.

"We sent in five machines with a couple of medics and troopers," Hayes said. "The RCC (Rescue Coordination Center) was able to pick him up so we didn’t have to bounce him down the trail."

The 210th and 212th squadrons once again responded to the scene and took Brainard to Providence at 8:15 p.m.

"We’re seeing more snowmobile rescues this year," Hayes said. "This is our fifth trip to Lost Lake this year."

People are taking dangerous chances, said Hayes. They’re going in unprepared, they’re underdressed and they don’t have extra gear.

Capt. Guy Hayes of the Alaska National Guard, said that snowmachines keep them busier than anything else during winter months.

"The guard is seeing quite a few incidents that require rescue," he said.

Because the machines are faster, they’re able to transport riders farther into the backcountry.

"There have been times when we haven’t been able to get in there," Hayes said. "So far we’ve been lucky. The weather has been good and helicopter rescues got in."

There have been no snowmachine fatalities in the area this year, he said.

"But I can remember in the past few years about five instances of broken necks and backs which changed lives forever."