Rescuers try to find skiers stuck on Alaska glacier for days

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A rescue helicopter was able to find a clearing in a snowstorm and lower personnel to the ground to begin the search for two skiers stranded for three days on an Alaska glacier.

The rescue team is hiking to the skiers, believed stranded at about the 4,300-foot level of Bear Glacier on the Harding Ice Field, the largest ice field entirely within U.S. boundaries.

Staff Sgt. Edward Eagerton with the Alaska Air National Guard says the team is battling blowing snow and winds up to 30 knots. Those conditions are keeping the helicopter grounded after inserting the team.

The rescue team is trying to reach 36-year-old Jennifer Neyman and 45-year-old Christopher Hanna, both of Soldotna, Alaska.

An airplane dropped them off Friday for a day trip and couldn't return that night because of strong winds and heavy snowfall, stranding the pair.

Neyman and Hanna communicated by satellite text message. The coordinates indicate they were around 4,300 feet on the glacier.