Skiers rescued after being stranded on Alaskan glacier

Two skiers were rescued from a glacier in Alaska on Tuesday after being stranded for four days.

Jennifer Neyman, 36, and Christopher Hanna, 45, were dropped off on Bear Glacier Friday, but bad weather prevented a helicopter from picking them up that night. The pair, both experienced in the outdoors, set up a light tent they brought, but it was destroyed by snow and heavy winds on Saturday. As the little bit of food they brought dwindled, they were able to communicate with friends and rescuers through cellphones and satellite text messages, The Associated Press reports, and the Alaska Air National guard pinpointed their location to the 4,300-foot-level of the 13-mile-long glacier in the Harding Ice Field.

Once the weather cleared on Tuesday, rescuers were able to find Neyman and Hanna and "dig out four feet of snow around the survivors to get them out," Guard Lt. Col. Matt Calabro told AP. "The terrain there is pretty gnarly. High mountain peaks, clouds, snow, icing, and the glaciers, so everything is white-on-white. It's like what we call flying in a ping pong ball." The rescue crew originally tried to land on Monday, but the mission was aborted due to huge crevasses on the glacier. Neyman and Hanna are both in good condition.

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