December 9, 2008
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High-speed internet doesn’t come easily to remote Alaska.
On Sunday, four technicians working for Kodiak Kenai Cable Company were dropped by helicopter near the top of Sharatin Mountain, on Kodiak Island. The mountain is 2,800 feet high and its peak is a popular 3-hour hike for locals, not a particularly challenging climb. The workers were there for a four-day job preparing a site for the construction of a proposed microwave tower that is to bring cell service and internet to Kodiak’s Native villages.
A winter storm came up and blew away some of their tents and supplies. Three of the men became separated from the fourth and ended up sheltering in a snow cave. The lone man sheltering in a surviving tent was first to call for rescue, about 5 AM Monday. The three in the snow cave contacted the Coast Guard, asking for rescue, about 7:45 the same morning. Some were reporting frostbite and/or symptoms of hypothermia.
High winds prevented a helicopter rescue, but eventually volunteers from Kodiak Search and Rescue were dropped lower on the mountain and hiked up to the cable workers’ campsite, reaching them about twelve hours after their calls, with water, food, and warm clothing. Last night they all started hiking back down the mountain, prepared to make camp if weather worsened.
My sources:
KNBA 90.3FM Native American Radio
tmcnet.com/news
and Fort Mill Times, Fort Mill, SC (And can anyone tell me why a South Carolina newspaper is so often the earliest source I find for Alaska news?)
Comments (14)
A South Carolinian paper? Really?
I hope everybody’s ok. Next time they should seriously hire some locals to help guide them. 2,800 feet would probably make me winded as hell, but I’ve done some mild hiking in Colorado that was more exhilarating than anything else.
why didn’t they do this before the weather started getting bad???? seems silly to start this type of project right as winter is setting in.
@tansytoes - Some questions along those lines crossed my mind. It is not the construction season here, really.
@soobee72 - Yes, really. Several times when I have googled for details of some Alaskan story I’ve caught on the radio, Fort Mill Times has come up.
Tansy read my mind. Why on earth did they start it in December? Even September would have been better. Sometimes I wonder about folks that make the big decisions.
I daresay they didn’t expect their line of work to be life threatening. I agree with the poster that asked why they’d start this in December instead of doing so in milder weather.
High speed internet doesn’t come easy to rural Alabama either. I just got it last year. rofl
I have no clue about the newspaper. laughing
(And can anyone tell me why a South Carolina newspaper is so often the earliest source I find for Alaska news?)
Syndication comes to mind…
Or is there a news/media group with connections to both areas?
Do a lot of people move from Alaska to South Carolina, ie retire to a warmer climate, but like news from the old home?
Booshoo! Aaniin? I loved the Native Radio Online.
SC thinks they know everything. LOL
@pixie_taker - Lots of retired people move to Alaska and snowbird to Arizona or Hawaii, but I haven’t heard of anyone retiring from here to the South. I suppose it happens, but not much. This is the place retired military men, in particular, go to die.
Syndication would hardly account for the fact that Alaska news shows up in the Fort Mill Times before it comes out on the website of the Anchorage Daily News, Fairbanks News Miner or Juneau Empire. My best guess is there’s an editor there with ties to Alaska, who stays alert to AK stories. Maybe he’s planning to move here when he retires. Maybe he was stationed here in the Army or Air Force and fell in love with the place. Many possibilities….
High speed internet isn’t easy to come by here in the middle of the country, either, I’m afraid. Though, undoubtedly easier than there.
I’d have to add my comment to the pile questioning why they were doing this now, considering the time of year & the weather it brings… but certainly glad that everyone’s ok.
Being from South Carolina I feel I must answer…..The news comes down the Alaska Pipeline…..
Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
I live about an hour from Fort Mill and my best guess is SC is just THAT boring that they post other state’s news to spice it up a little lol.
@MsButterworth311 - Awww… that’s really sad, but boring isn’t all bad, I guess.