Occasionally Alaska reminds you of why it is called the "Last Frontier." And it uses bears to do so.

Courtesy of the Newsminer:

The teenage outdoor education students, having progressed to the point of being on their own in the vast Alaska wilderness, were lined up single file for a river crossing when the grizzly burst with fury into the front of the line, badly mauling two in the group and injuring two more.

Those in the front screamed of the bear's presence. The bear was with her cub when she attacked, according to Alaska State Troopers.

The teens were in a group of seven participating in a 30-day backcountry course conducted by the National Outdoor Leadership School when the attack occurred Saturday night in the Talkeetna Mountains north of Anchorage. They were rescued early Sunday after activating their emergency locator beacon and tending to their most seriously wounded.

Those in the back of the line heard the warning, with the two at the front of the line taking the brunt of the attack, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Another group of seven students and three instructors was waiting about six miles away for a helicopter hired by the Lander, Wyo.-based NOLS, said Bruce Palmer, a spokesman for the organization, which leads many such excursions in Alaska and elsewhere.

Palmer said the worst injured with bear bite wounds are 17-year-old Joshua Berg of New City, N.Y., and 17-year-old Samuel Gottsegen of Denver. They were being treated at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. Hospital spokeswoman Crystal Bailey said both are listed in serious condition after troopers earlier said the injuries were life-threatening.

When the bear broke off the attack, the teens activated a personal locator beacon they carried to be used only for an emergency, Peters said.

The Rescue Coordination Center operated by the Alaska Air National Guard called troopers around 9:30 p.m. to report the activated signal. A trooper and pilot in a helicopter located the students in a tent shortly before 3 a.m., but decided the two most seriously injured would need a medical transport aircraft with a medically trained crew.

There are basic rules that Alaskans learn to follow when going into areas that have bears:

• Make lots of noise to give plenty of warning of your approach. I don't see how seven teenagers stomping through the woods could NOT have made a tremendous amount of noise,
• Avoid deep brush so as not to surprise or crowd the bear. These young men were crossing a river, which you would imagine would provide a plenty of visibility to allow both the bear and the teens to see each other and take evasive measures.
• There is safety in numbers.  Seven is a fairly substantial group, but in this case not substantial enough.
•  Bears are unpredictable, especially mothers with their cubs. I believe that THIS last guideline made the others superfluous.

These unfortunate young men came upon perhaps the single most dangerous situation one could encounter in the wilds of Alaska, and that is a bear with cubs to protect.

From the description of the incident one would assume the bear had plenty of time to take her cub and flee the scene, but for some reason chose to attack instead. Even though it sounds like the teens were doing everything right.


Calling out to alert bears of human presence and give nearby animals a chance to flee is among the skills learned in the course.

"The students say they were" doing that, Palmer said.

I sometimes get a little attitude from the friends and family that I take out on hikes in the wooded areas round the city, for being overly cautious about wearing layers, bringing liquids, making lots of noise, and keeping to the paths while hiking in areas with limited visibility. But I always remind them that even only minutes away from our homes we are STILL deep in Alaska, and that Alaska is not aware that it has been civilized.


We have had quite a number of attacks in and around Anchorage, but you always tell yourself that if you follow the bear safety rules you should be okay. I think this incident with these young men is a reminder that even doing everything right, ultimately offers only minimal protection in a place as wild and unpredictable as Alaska.