Kell Morris, a 61-year-old hiker, found himself in a life-or-death situation while trekking a remote path close to Godwin Glacier in Alaska. Morris hiked with his wife Jo Roop. On the way, they discovered a sandy creek bed littered with huge boulders – as big as 1,000-pound rocks. The pair’s adventure soon turned perilous when Morris slipped. He fell an estimated 20 feet down an embankment and ended up face down in the frigid water.
And it was hard to find his ground again. Out of nowhere, a huge boulder weighing over 700 pounds fell, trapping him under its enormous weight. Morris was in severe pain in his left leg and was worried that his femur would break from the load. In this case, for 30 minutes his wife unsuccessfully worked to extract him. She used rocks to gain leverage, trying to roll the huge boulder off him.
When her efforts became impossible, Roop decided to leave her husband and get him help. She had to walk about 300 yards just to get a cell signal and managed to call 911 with that signal. Leveraging her experience in law enforcement, she was able to give dispatchers very specific latitude and longitude coordinates, ensuring a quick response.
Paul Crites, a member of that rescue team, recalled, “Without that private helicopter helping us out, they would have taken us at least another 45 minutes to get to him. I don’t think he had that much time.”
A local sled dog tourism operator graciously provided the use of his chopper to get rescuers in to the crash site. An Alaska National Guard helicopter soon followed and retrieved Morris from the creek bed in a rescue basket.
Rescue efforts enlisted the help of seven men and three inflatable air bags to hoist the boulder off Morris. Crites remembers the rescue’s most harrowing moments. We all participated, or I should say, we all pulled, working in unison with a powerful, synchronized force of ‘one, two, three, pull.
Morris recounted the moment of the accident: “I was coming back and everything, the whole side slid out from under me.” After being rescued from under the rock, he was airlifted to safety.
“To tell the truth, in the beginning, when it first occurred, I really didn’t think there was going to be a good outcome,” Morris said. But against all odds, he walked away from the wreck with no major injuries.
Looking back In all, Kell Morris ended up spending two nights under observation in a local hospital, but he came through with no permanent damage. Crites expressed his disbelief at the positive outcome: “I fully anticipated a body recovery, not him walking away without a scratch on him.”
The event serves as profound reminder that risks often come in unexpected forms when recreating outdoors. This is the case even on the most well-known trails. Morris and Roop’s experience serves as a reminder of the need for safety precautions and preparation when venturing into remote landscapes.