February 2006 Latest news
A big thank you for the many emails I am
getting from people expressing their admiration for Rosie's courage and
sending their best wishes to her.
28/2/6 I have just had a long chat with Rosie, she
told me the whole story of how the frostbite developed. She feels
very stupid for letting it happen, On the 21st The Temperature had
got up to a balmy -20 degrees and she knew her foot was getting cold and
that she should have stopped but carried on so as to get as much distance as possible traveled
before the blizzard that was coming descended.
The next morning there was a huge blister on her
toe which was greatly swollen, it took her over and hour to get her boot
on it was so painful, she hobbled on for two more days like this.
on the 24th she came across the Serum Sled Run , and got advice about
her frostbite. They were very kind and offered her dressings and
advice, she could not show anyone her toes, as it was too cold to take
her foot out.
The Serum Run sleds had left a great track and as
Rosie made camp she was hopping to be able to travel on a good broken
track. however there were heavy blizzards continuously and the
next morning everything was covered under huge blankets of snow.
Her foot by now had become even more swollen and pain. and she was
unable to but her boot on.
With much discussion between Bob Collins and
others it was released that she could be in serious danger of losing her
foot. and she was unable to move anywhere. Rosie activated
her emergency beacon and the National Guard came to rescue her.
Rosie would like to thank them all very much the National Guard
helicopter crew members Steven, John, Mario, and Michael who picked her
up in very dangerous weather conditions
She is planning to continue her journey at the early
possible opportunity, taking all necessary precautions
At the moment she is staying briefly at the Red Roof Inn
as she needs to be near the hospital and to sort out paperwork
matters. She will be meeting Bob Collins who has been so vital to
her run to plan the rest of her journey. I will have more details
about her plans latter.
As more news comes I will aim to have it up on the
website as soon a possible, Due to the fluid nature of things if there
is any minor inaccuracy is misspelling of names or anything please let
me know.
In the meantime here hare some great photo I have recently been
sent by Joyce Metsa who invited Rosie to stay with her when she arrived at
Nulato a few weeks ago.
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1 Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church
Catholic Church which welcomed Rosie to Nulato and provided shelter for
her sled. 2, Rosie with Brother Bob (modeling her Brother
Bob haircut). 3,Rosie in her tent-sled. 4, The caribou hide given to her
by William Ambrose. 5, her view of the caribou hide. 6,Rosie's borrowed
boots. 7, Rosie stays warm with multiple hides. 8,Dinner with William
Ambrose (moose ribs). 9, Dean P. pulled Rosie's sled for her. 10, Rosie
and her friends from Nulato. 11, Students, Leslie and William Ambrose
say goodbye to Rosie. 12, Rosie leaving town. Yukon River in the
background. William Ambrose sees her off.
A big thank
you to you Joyce and all those at Nulato
Also back in England I would like to thank two
very good friends of Rosie who helped me get my computer sorted out,
Michael Rowland and Ann Rowell, Both are working very hard help Rosie
from over here and are wonderful people. regards James.
28/2/6 Hi everyone, apologies for the delay in
getting news up I think the site became flooded with hits and went down,
all seems to be working well. I have emailed as many people as I
could, so many of you will know this already, here is a rundown of the
rather dramatic new these last few days.
Rosie has been airlifted out on the 25th by
National Guard helicopter under the leadership of Major Mike Haller,
this was a big operation involving aerial refueling of the helicopter on
route. and the weather condition were difficult. A very big
thank you to Major Mike Haller and the helicopter crews for rescuing
Mom.
The reason Rosie called for help was that her foot
had swollen so much due to the frostbite that she was unable to
get her boot on, it very quickly turned into a life threatening
situation. The National Guard came in the nick of time and she was
rushed to Providence Hospital where she received excellent treatment by
the doctors there. Her foot is bad but could have been much worse,
as I understand. It looks like her big toe those very badly swollen
and it take a bit of time to ascertain how bad the damage is, she will
lose the end of her second toe unfortunately and her big toe is
uncirtain. I have not really
had the chance to have a proper chat with her, but from voice messages
she sounding well and very thankful to everyone for there help.
She particularly mentioned Bob Collins who was vital in organizing
her rescue and has been so kind and helpful. She said she is determined
to continue her run from where she was pick up from as soon as she is
healed. I hope to have more news soon.
This is a link to a very good article written
about Rosie's rescue, please take a look.
This is an one of several emails I received for Major Mike Haller
from the National Guard
James
Hello. I am Major Mike Haller, public affairs officer for the Alaska Air
National Guard at Camp Denali, Alaska. Our forces are enroute to rescue your
mother at this moment in time (4:15pm local Alaska time). They launched from
Kulis Air National Guard Base, in Anchorage, at 3:30 pm, after being recalled
earlier.
We expect that they will arrive on-scene at her location within the next 75 to
90 minutes. An HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter with at least two pararescuemen
aboard are responding to her distress signal. An HC-130N Hercules Rescue Tanker
is providing aerial refueling for the helicopter enroute.
After your mum is rescued, we expect (weather dependent) that they will likely
proceed to Galena and do a transload to the HC-130 for further transport back
to Anchorage and hospital.
The details of how this will play out will emerge within the next two to three
hours. Much of the issues are not uncertainty by the crews, rather they are
concerns for severe weather conditions in the area that your mum has been
traveling through. The possibility of taking her to Fairbanks, though it is
actually closer, is not very good because of the weather.
We will keep you posted with updates. I will also provide you with a copy of
the press release we're about to send out as well.
Our best to you. Your mum will be in the very best hands possible as quickly as
our PJs can reach her. I assure you that they've put the 'peddle to the metal'.
Very best regards
Mike
MICHAEL L. HALLER
Major, AKNG
Chief, JFHQ-AK Public Affairs
& Strategic Communications
State of Alaska
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs
Office of Public Affairs
P.O. Box 5800, Camp Denali
Fort Richardson, Alaska 99505-5800
(907) 428-6031 Fax 428-6949
Defending the Homeland
[ http://www.ak-prepared.com/dmva ]www.ak-prepared.com/dmva
UPDATE
As of 8:30pm (Alaska Time)
For Immediate Release 25 February 2006
Alaska Air Guard Rescues Rosie Swale-Pope
Ardent British explorer rescued from camp on Henry Island; suffering with
frostbite
CAMP DENALI, Alaska - An Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter
crew and pararescuemen rescued Rosie Swale-Pope, an ardent British explorer
expeditioner, amidst a severe Arctic storm Sunday evening. According to Major
Mike Haller, spokesman for the Guard, "Our search team found Rosie hunkered
into her shelter on Henry Island a little past 7pm. She was in good spirits and
to say the least, glad to have some company."
Henry Island about 40 northeast of Ruby, on the Yukon River. She was enroute to
Tanana but severe weather conditions - even by Alaskan standards..."caused her
to have to hunker down and stay put, apparently, for the past several days,"
Haller said.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, at Camp Denali near Anchorage, directed
the successful search for the well-known British explorer when the Alaska State
Troopers asked for assistance in the matter. The Troopers and the Alaska
National Guard routinely assist and support one another in similar activities
across the State according to Haller.
"Ms. Pope, as many people are aware, began a mission to navigate the world,
mostly afoot, to raise funds and attention, on behalf of several charitable
organizations dealing with both cancer and orphans," said Haller.
According to Haller, she reported in Saturday that she'd gotten a case of
frostbite on a least one foot, but had wrapped her feet in "fur and dry bags
with native mukluk boots" and expressed her determination to proceed on to
Tanana. Haller noted that she hasn't made it out of her campsite.
"We launched an HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter, with our 210th Rescue Squadron, an
HC-130N Hercules Rescue Tanker from our 211th Rescue Squadron and pararescuemen
from our 212th Rescue Squadron at 3:30pm local Alaska Time Sunday," he said.
The units are part of the 176th Wing at Kulis Air National Guard Base, adjacent
to Stevens International Airport in Anchorage.
"From what we've heard from our crews, via radio communications, the weather
conditions have absolutely been challenging throughout the search and rescue
mission. The blizzard conditions did not help in the efforts. Fortunately,
Rosie had some communications capabilities with her that allowed for a pinpoint
accurate pickup," Haller said.
Severe weather remained a factor in the Interior. According to Haller, as of
8:30 pm Sunday, the plan was to fly both aircraft to Galena and transload Ms.
Swale-Pope aboard the Rescue Tanker for further flight to a hospital in
Anchorage.
Earlier this weekend, two of the Alaska Air National Guard's Rescue Squadrons
performed a successful mission, at the request of Alaska State Troopers, when
they located and transported an injured snowmobiler in the Caribou Hills area,
on the Kenai Peninsula approximately 180 miles south of Anchorage.
According to officials with the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, at Camp
Denali, the mission opened in response to a request for assistance from the
Alaska State Troopers to recover a snowmobiler suffering from a possible back.
The 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons were tasked and responded with an HH-60G
Pavehawk helicopter and two pararescuemen (PJs) aboard. The snowmobiler, a man
in his early 20's, was taken to Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage. One
'Save' was awarded to the Rescue Squadrons.
This was the 20th mission of the calendar year, according to officials. The RCC
directed more than 230 missions in 2005.
Editors & Reporters - Rosie's
reason for doing this world run.
The following information is provided from Ms. Swale-Pope's website
www.rosiearoundtheworld.co.uk
concerning her expedition:
On 2nd October 2003 my 57th birthday, I'm going to set off to run around the
world. Making my dream come true and practical necessity, go together. I shall
be solo, self supporting and on a very low budget. I couldnąt afford back up
teams, luxury, or flights to different continent and stages across wide oceans.
My dearest wish anyway, is just to do a complete circle of the earth, planned
to keep me on as much land mass as possible, This is also the coldest, hardest,
most fascinating way, and includes almost 7,000 miles of Russia and Siberia. I
shall go across Europe through Holland, Germany, Poland and Moscow, before
hitting the Trans Siberian Railway route. Then go on to the Bering Straits,
Alaska, America, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland and England,
before returning to the start and finishing line at Tenby, my home in Wales.
Itwill be my world voyage on two feet. Many years ago I sailed to Australia and back around Cape Horn with my young
family in a catamaran, and later solo across the Atlantic in a 17ft boat. The
magic of sailing, is that the vivid images of trees mountains, villages, town,
faces; people you love as well as those you only imagine come to mind when you
are quite alone at sea. It has led me to longing to explore the land as well.
So the legs that come free from God, have taken the place of hulls as a way of
passage making!
Running can take you to places that do not exist if you travel in any other
way. Maybe even more than walking, because you can get so exhausted, almost
fail so every often, and are vulnerable and shaky. Sometimes when you are
weakest, you can feel things the most strongly. This is when those you meet in
the midst of their own difficult lives and situations, are not fearful of you.
You treading gently through someone else's land; Part of the life going on all
around you. Part of the people, places, sunrises, storms, terrors and joys;
seeing, feeling, laughing, crying, in happiness or despair.
The death of my husband Clive from prostate cancer last year, taught me more
than anything about how precious life is; How short it can be, that you HAVE to
grab life, do what you can while you can, and try to give something back.~I'll
be trying to raise awareness of the following very special small charities - to
represent the world: - The Prostate Cancer Charity, The Siberian Railway Cancer
Hospital at Omsk. The Kitezh Community for Orphan Children Orphanage, the hope
of the future of European Russia through its children.~ The Nepal Trust that
achieves so much with almost no money, in the Hidden Himalayas.
I am extremely grateful for the generosity of my family and friends, without
their help and faith I could not succeed. Regards, Rosie.
24/2/06I have just received this message worrying message from
Rosie, I hope she is alright. I know she is in close contact
with Bob and has a 2way local radio. I trust her when she says it
is not too bad, but don't like the idea of her getting any
frostbite. I shall keep everyone updated the moment I know more.
This is the message I received from her this
morning
FROSTBITE IN BIG TOE, BUT NOT 2 BAD. FEET WRAPPED IN FUR AND DRY BAGS WITHIN NATIVE MUKLUK BOOTS.
DETERMINED 2 GET 2 TANANA
There has been terrible weather lately, blizzard
and what not. This from Bob a few days ago Hello James: Here is another GPS fix to chart Rosie's progress as of 6AM 21 Feb: N 64 55 25 W 154 43 73 (Deep snow, no traffic, no trail, poor visibility but she reports she is fine) Bob
What follows is an email from Freda Beasley who Rosie met in Galena a few
weeks ago. Freda, and her friends looked after Rosie very
kindly. And sent me some wonderful photos just before my computer
broke down. I have a new computer now and have all my data and
photos back and able to be used. This will explain why Rosie
has dedicated this stage of her run to the Memory of Richard Strick.
Hello James: I was reading the website for Rosie and see that she is making the run to Fairbanks in memory of Richard Strick. He is a dear friend of my husband and I. He perished in an avalanche in the Alaska Range on February 14th and search efforts are being conducted as of yesterday. His long-time partner, Judy Vanderpool, is my best friend and we grew up together in Anvik, AK. I flew to McGrath, Alaska to be with her for about four days. We hope that they find Richard and bring him home. Please, along with your friends and family, put out a prayer plea for him to be found. My dear friend is so grief stricken. She is up in the mountain with him waiting at a shelter cabin and there are about 25-30 men searching for him.
Give my best to Rosie and hope that all is well with her. We wish her well.
Freda Beasley
Galena, Alaska
These are the wonderful photos she sent though to me and her accompanying
email. I am very grateful to Freda.
Hi James: I am Freda Beasley and I first saw your Mum in the dike here in Galena. I immediately recognized her as being Rosie pulling her tent/sled and hollered at her to come to the road. She did and I introduced myself to her. I encouraged her to let me put her gear in the back of my truck and took her to the school where she was able to eat some food in my classroom as it was being used as a hospitality room for our basketball tournament.
I enjoyed meeting your Mum and certainly have a great admiration for her walking/running around the world. I would love to be in touch with you and her.
Here are a few pictures of her and I and Bob. Bob is the father of the woman, owner of the B&B, who donated a night free for Rosie to stay there.
Take care
Freda Beasley
21/2/6 Hi
everyone, it has been a lot of things happening this last week,
sad news, of the death of a brave man called Richard Strick, that Rosie mentions
in her message who was killed while marking out the Iron Dog Race.
And also that the school at White Mountain has burned down due to an electrical
fault. The children at White mountain were so warm and kind to
Rosie, it is a terrible thing to happen, I think I speak on behalf of
everyone, in offering my deepest sympathy to to the friends and family
of Richard and all those affected by the fire at White
mountain.
Weather conditions have once again proved tricky
as you will hear, Rosie has had problems with unstable snow in the
past. It is very exhausting to travel across, sometimes she
was only able to make a few miles a day if that, after disappearing into
deep snow drifts. This is a recent update I just received from Bob
who is monitoring Rosie's progress.
Hello James, I thought you might like some recent GPS coordinates in order to track
Rosie's progress. 14 Feb 05: N 64 42 63 W 156 00 66 (windy); 19 Feb 05: N 64 50 58
W 155 12 30 (slow due to white out); 20 Feb 05: N 64 52 85 W 154 157 04 (Ice
overflow, deep snow). Rosie is about 20 miles east of Ruby. She continues to amaze
everyone with her ability to travel in extreme weather. All the best, Bob
I have been a little frustrated by some computer trouble, sorry for
going on about it, Both email accounts are ok but the address book
is out of action for my non goldfish account so just for the
moment all notifications will come from my goldfish account. I
have some wonderful new photos of Rosie that I can't wait to put up on
the website as soon as I sort my tec probs out, I am in the process
of buying a new computer so hopefully it should all be sorted out
soon.
Here is a new message from Rosie I received typed up on the 18th of Feb,
cheers sis'.
Dear All, first of all two messages of sympathy.
Tragically a brave man called Richard Strick,
has been killed whilst marking
the route for the Iron Dog Race. The next stage
of the run, to Fairbanks, is in honor of him.
Secondly, the school at White Mountain has been
burned down. It was probably an electrical fault
but the loss will be felt by the entire
community.
My thoughts are with Richard's family and also
with the people of White Mountain.
The run is getting very dangerous now. The
temperatures are fluctuating between minus sixty at
night to between minus 20 and plus 30 degrees
during the day. I am still using all my cold weather
equipment which has and continues to keep me so
safe. However, I am now having to wear my snow
shoes the whole time as the ice can become
deceptively thin. Yesterday I fell through the ice and
was held up by the harness. The snow is very
different and unpredictable with these wide
temperature variations. Priorities are keeping the Sat
Phone and Radio safe.
Even the Iron Dog Race has seen an unprecedented
number of teams dropping out because of the
unseasonable weather.
I am taking it very slowly and carefully to the
next village, Tanana, hoping to arrive in 9 or 10
days.
Take care Love Rosie
13/2/06 Hi everyone, I have received news
from Rosie, she has left Galena two days ago, she has a wonderful visit
and met with Sister Madeline and several others from the village,
the main news is that she is adjusting her route. She will be going to Fairbanks
rather than Anchorage. This will keep her on the Yukon River, which is
more or less the equivalent of a road this time of year. Bob Collins estimates this
will get her to a road system much sooner. In addition, she will be
following the historic Sled Dog Serum Run trail. That Serum run is the
historic basis for the Iditarod Sled Dog race. Big thanks to Bob
who has been in close contact with Rosie, receiving daily GPS fixes for safety
reasons.
Rosie's route adjustment.
From Rosie: Hello Eve, Pete and Mikie
I am in Galena and I am going to Ruby. I have changed my mind, I am not going to Anchorage. My route is going to be Fairbanks, Whitehorse. All in the interests
of getting home to see you sooner as a direct run.
It was great to see Stephen Seaton, Runners World editor, in Nulato. Very very nice to see
him. I feel very privileged that he took all the trouble to come out to see me.
It is warm today, amazing and lovely.
I am all packed up with dried fish and all the native foods. Please thank everyone on the
website for
all there their help and support.
I am a member now of the minus sixty club now because all the old timers had to go out in minus sixty to hunt and trap for food. So I am a member of their club and they have been
giving me lots of good advice such as putting grass down your boots for insulation and all types of things like that.
So now I am going to wag my tail and get going. Now it is a different sort of run. I am going to get up the Yukon River and go go go. It becomes more like a race now, I need to get back in three years or three and a bit and no longer.
Lots of love and hugs to all the family.
Mum
N64 40.21. W156 20.41. RACING 4 HOME - LONG WAY BUT FEEL I'VE
TURNED CORNER O WORLD AT LAST. LOVE U. MUMX.
8/2/6 Hi everyone, I have started to update the
look of the website, is anyone finds any problem or has any suggestions
please drop me an email, apologies for slight delay in posting this, it is from a few days ago a transcribed message from Rosie. I
had a wonderful chat with Mom and in Nulato and also Joyce who looked
after mom so kindly. Rosie is meeting such lovely people I am so
grateful to everyone. Hi Joyce, having a little trouble getting past
you Spam guard. Regards James
6/2/6 From Rosie transcribed from voice message:
Had a fantastic welcome here in Nulato . Brother Bob, a Franciscan Friar actually hauled the sled inside the church, it dripped snow all over the carpet and it is still there. He also gave me a wonderful interesting haircut!
Steven Seaton, the editor of Runner's World came out to see me.
And it was lovely to see him.
I am staying with a wonderful woman called Joyce and her Welsh Corgi dog called Teeb !) (apologies from Eve if spelling wrong) although he also has a longer name. The whole community have been so kind to me and I have learned a lot. I have survived the temperatures of minus 60 degrees.
Please tell everyone on the web that I am thinking of them and grateful for the support. Joyce is going to send some photos and information about Nulato for the web to Jimmy.
It is so nice to be in a village. It is so wonderful to see a building, a village coming into view after walking alone for days and days in the cold. The feeling is unbelievable. It is akin seeing a port after days at sea but more so because at these temperatures nothing moves at all. Not a bird, not an animal, there are no people. Everything is so still. There is a more profound aloneness on land than there is at sea.
Not even the people who do travel in the winter, who can use their snow mobiles on terrains that are not possible to traverse in the summer when it is all swamps and water.
It was a magical experience arriving here.
I will be packing up in the morning and moving on down the mighty Yukon River.
Lots of love and a big hug for Mikie.
