Snowmachiner Rescued from Crevasse Describes Ordeal

Wasn't Sure if Friend Could Hear Him

April 20, 2011|By Todd Walker | Channel 2 News

EAGLE RIVER, Alaska — David Joerg survived an accident that should have been deadly. Now he's speaking out with a word of warning for snowmachiners and offering his thanks to rescuers.

Joerg was going out for his final ride of the year Saturday near Eureka, off the Glenn Highway. He and a friend were following some well-traveled trails when they rode up onto Nelchina Glacier for some lunch and to snap some photos.

Joerg says he wanted to get a few extra shots of the scenery, so he hiked further down the glacier when the ice underneath him gave way. He fell 60 feet down into a crevasse and only stopped because the ice got so narrow he was wedged inside.

He says he called to his friend for help, but wasn't sure if anyone heard him.

Joerg passed the time by using his helmet visor and reading glasses lens to scratch at the ice to make foot-holds to try and climb out.

After nearly seven hours inside the crevasse, getting hypothermic and banged up from the fall, Joerg was found by rescue crews who hauled him out.

Joerg says during his time in the crevasse, he relied on his faith to get him through and he calls his survival a miracle.

He expressed thanks and gratitude to his rescuers and the community. "There's a lot of people behind the scenes that I don't know that worked in preparation for this. I want them to know that their work has paid off. It does save lives. I'm very thankful for that," Joerg said.

"Don't ever give up hope. I kept looking up and I could see the light, but I look down and it was just total darkness," he described.

Joerg says he's not sure if he'll ever ride snowmachines again. He does warn others to stay off of glaciers, saying what happened to him could have happened to anyone.

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