Rescue underway for hunter trapped on northern ice floe HOME! #7

[Catty1]

Here is the type of territory he was in:


http://www.windsorstar.com/Hunter+re...604/story.html

A hunter who was stranded on an Arctic ice floe for nearly four days is finally safe after a military rescue team plucked him off the ice on Monday afternoon.

A military rescue team had been trying for days to reach David Idlout, trapped since Friday on a floe in the Northwest Passage near one of Canada's most northern communities.

The team had been repeatedly hindered by bad weather.

They were finally able to reach Idlout with a military helicopter at about 3 p.m. local time, said Capt. Pierre Bolduc, from the search-and-rescue co-ordination centre in Trenton, Ont.

"He was cold, tired but otherwise in good health," said Bolduc, adding that Idlout didn't need any medical treatment.

Idlout was flown to the airport in his nearby hometown of Resolute, Nunavut, and his family was there to greet him, Bolduc said.

"The whole community was there to meet him and he left with his family," he said.

Idlout, 39, had been seal hunting and was on his way back home when he saw a gap in the ice ahead of him, and realized he had become stranded on a large piece of ice that had broken apart from the mainland and was now floating away.

He called his wife in Resolute who alerted the rescue teams.

Idlout remained in regular contact with rescue personnel on his satellite phone, and had sufficient provisions after a Hercules aircraft dropped off supplies for him on Saturday, including a battery for his satellite phone, food and a small tent.

The Cormorant helicopter had to travel more than 1,400 kilometres from its base to reach the hunter.

The rescue team had hoped to retrieve Idlout late Sunday night, but a fierce winter storm grounded the military helicopter in Clyde River, Nunavut, about 900 kilometres from Resolute.

Capt. Paul Spaleta, a search-and-rescue mission co-ordinator based out of Trenton said on Sunday that the distance — and winds in the area — added to the challenge of the rescue.

Resolute, with a population of about 200, is the second most northern community in Canada, and is located on Cornwallis Island.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

[Laura's Babies]

GREAT! They got him, he is ok and gone home... I kept checking to see..