Skiers stranded overnight in Glacier National Park
A Kalispell couple was forced to spend Saturday night in the North Fork area of Glacier National Park after they got lost during a Saturday cross-country skiing venture celebrating the 39th birthday of Signe Brust.
Mark, 46, and Signe Brust were successfully rescued Sunday morning, were not injured, and were on their way home by early Sunday afternoon, park spokeswoman Denise Germann said.
"It was my wife's birthday yesterday and she always likes to do a big birthday ski in the park," Mark Brust said.
With heavy snow and some equipment problems they found themselves on an old trail between Bowman Lake and Kintla Lake with night falling.
Fortunately they were prepared with dry socks, extra clothes and a saw to cut wood for a fire, Mark Brust said.
"We built a little lean-to. I wouldn't say it was comfortable, but we did stay warm and dry for the most part," he said.
The Brusts were able to send a text message to 911 via a spot messenger device around 8 p.m. Saturday.
Park rangers were immediately notified that the message had originated from a remote location about a mile north of Akokala Creek, about six miles north of Polebridge.
"Due to bad weather, downed trees, difficult trail conditions, darkness and overall unsafe conditions for ground or aerial searches, it was determined that a response would need to take place early Sunday morning," Germann said in a press release.
On Sunday morning, park rangers and members of the Flathead Search and Rescue mountain rescue team, along with Kalispell Regional Medical Center's A.L.E.R.T. air ambulance, began searching for the pair.
Crew members on the helicopter spotted tracks left in the snow by the couple. The helicopter landed and two crew members hiked about a half-mile to reach and treat the stranded skiers. As weather improved, the helicopter returned to retrieve the skiers. They were flown to a site near the Polebridge Mercantile and then taken by park rangers to the Polebridge Ranger Station. They drove home from there in their own vehicle, Germann said.
According to Germann, the couple had set out to ski from the Polebridge Ranger Station to Bowman Lake and continued on the Akokala Creek Trail. They got off trail and were in a remote location about one mile north of the Parke Creek drainage when they sent the emergency text message.
Mark Brust expressed his thanks to the personnel from Glacier National Park, Flathead County Search and Rescue and the A.L.E.R.T. helicopter.
"We're both fine, no worse for the wear," he said. "She's already talking about going to the beach for her next birthday."