Photo courtesy of Greg Nappi
In April of 2009, Joe Butler (right) survived a broken femur and collar bone after falling 1,000 feet while ice climbing near Eklutna Glacier. His friend and climbing partner, Greg Nappi (left) went to extreme measures to get Butler off the mountain by lowering him inches at a time in a sled, then skiing 14 miles at night to fi nd the nearest Ranger Station. Nappi received the Citizen Award from the Governor’s Council on Emergency Medical Services for his heroic rescue.
By Maggie Holeman
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
Wood Permits Available
If a woodchuck could chuck wood, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck? Huh?
Have you looked at the woodpiles on the Hope Highway? Get your personal use wood permits from any of the three ranger stations at Girdwood, Moose Pass or Seward. The permits are good for two weeks and only twenty at a time are issued. Cut while the cutting is good!
Fire Training
Hope Happenings welcomes a new Hope/Sunrise fire department volunteer, Rick Cork, who has been voted in as the new Training Officer and Captain. Congratulations, Rick.
The Hope/Sunrise Fire Department is currently training the first and third Wednesday of every month in the fire station at 7 p.m. Included in the training are continued familiarity of equipment, safety issues, snow machine and avalanche rescue, backcountry rescue and the importance of basic radio communications.
In late December, the fire department had a chance to put their knowledge into affect with a Good Samaritan rescue when a snow machine broke down on Resurrection Creek Trail. Although the snow machine driver was not in imminent danger and the call came locally and not through 911, three fire department personnel responded and towed the broken snow machine back to Hope. There were no injuries or further incident.
EMS Recertification
A meeting was held Jan. 11 to determine the interest of future EMS personnel and to secure dates to re-certify the current EMS responders. This will allow Hope to continue to respond to local medical emergencies.
The EMS personnel will be attending refresher courses and general updated information in the fire station every first and third Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Contact Scott Sherritt for further information.
Public Health Nurse Coming to Town
The Seward public health nurse will be holding a walk-in clinic at the Hope School Jan. 22 between 12:30 and 2:00 p.m.
School News
This is a busy month for the Hope school with a variety of happenings going on.
On Jan. 12, the monthly PTA met at the school at 3:15 p.m. If you are not already a PTA member, just pop into the school and see Gina Motoyama or April Skaaren for a membership card.
On Jan. 27, the school will be sponsoring a Chili/Soup fundraiser dinner. This will be a hot event!
January 28 to March 4 there will be ski/snowboarding lessons at Alyeska. This will be a cold event!
On Jan. 29, the students will be attending “Seussical the Musical,” a theatre production put on by the Alaska Theatre of Youth in Anchorage. This will be a fun event!
The staff and students would like to give a big thanks to Dave McCabe for his very generous donations to the Hope School.
Library Events and Hours
The library hours are Monday 12-3 p.m., Wednesday 6-8 p.m. and Friday 12-3 p.m.
The February book club read is “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett. This tale of fiction is set in Mississippi in 1962 and addresses civil rights and African American women of the times. Discussion will be in the library on Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m. We always welcome new club members and new ideas.
Remember, we are open 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday. Come join us for coffee or tea in a quiet setting by the wood fire.
Hope, Inc. Meeting
Hope, Inc. will meet Saturday, Jan. 16 at 7:00 p.m. at the Social Hall. The main agenda is election of officers. Who wants to volunteer?
Hope Resident Receives Statewide Recognition
On Nov. 14, Greg Nappi received the 2009 Citizen Award from the Governor's Council on Emergency Medical Services for his undaunted rescue of his friend and ice climbing partner, Joe Butler. Greg has a two-year degree from Colorado in Outdoor Recreational Leadership and is a Wilderness First Responder.
On a clear spring morning in 2009, Greg and Joe began their free-climbing ascent of Bellicose Peak in the Chugach Mountains near Eklutna Glacier. Having already conquered Miter Mite, a 90-degree vertical ice climb two days earlier, the less technical Bellicose Peak would conclude their adventure on this trip. Or so they believed.
In a quick and unexpected change of events, the day turn tortuous when Joe fell nearly 1,000 feet breaking his collar bone and femur. Over the next 24-hours, Greg would reach deep within his own reserves in a backbreaking struggle to get his friend off the mountain. Through pure strength and determination, he began the descent with Joe stabilized and strapped to a sled. Maneuvering the sled inch by inch over craggy rocks and ice, Greg only had his ice ax for support against falling himself.
When the daylight began to fade, and the 50-mile an hour winds bottlenecked into the canyon, Greg sought protection for him and his partner by pitching a tent against the rocky cliffs. Inside the thin nylon walls, Greg heated soup by a single burner propane stove and fed Joe his only source of nourishment.
In extreme pain but conscious, Joe was in dire need of professional medical help. Although Greg was already exhausted, hungry and cold, he made a final attempt to save his friend. He left Joe tucked in the tent, wrapped in two sleeping bags. And there alone in the darkness questioned his ability to make the right decisions. Then he skied fourteen arduous miles to the nearest Ranger Station.
“When I left Joe for the final time,” he said. “I thought it may be the last time I would see him. That's the risk we take, the objective hazard. I accepted that risk a while ago. It feels good that I prepared myself for that.”
The propensity to question vital decisions during rescue has all but faded in Greg's mind. And Joe has a need to get back on the horse that kicked him. After a full recovery, and only eight months from the accident, the two young men strapped their ice climbing equipment back on and headed for the mountains—where once again, their steel crampons and axes plunge into the ice.
