Two Texan tourists rolled their ATV off the side of a mountain near 7 Mile Lutak Road Sunday after overshooting a turn on an established trail.
Alaska State Trooper Dru Neason said the ATV rolled about 40 feet down the mountain before coming to rest.
The two tourists had been driving a Kawasaki ATV “Mule” as part of a Takshanuk Mountain Trail tour when they lost control of the vehicle, said emergency responder Al Badgley.
“Basically one of the mules was going down a hill and didn’t make the turn for some reason and went over the embankment. They had a protective log there, but they took the log out, too,” Badgley said.
Neason said there might have been some mix-up on how to operate the vehicle. “It basically sounds like the operator might have pushed the accelerator when he meant to hit the brake and went off the trail.”
The 911 call triggered a massive response, with ambulance and police sirens blaring through town. “When the initial report came in, we weren’t sure how bad it was, so it was kind of urgent. Once we got out there, we got more information,” Neason said.
Badgley said the driver was able to extricate himself from the vehicle and make his way up the hill to call for help, but the passenger was stuck. “The other person could not climb the hill so we had to wait for a rope to come,” Badgley said.
The man and woman were treated at the scene for minor cuts and bruises and went back to their ship to return to Skagway.
“Due to the fact that they have proper roll bars installed and seatbelts, even if there is an accident you can have minimal injury. They did minimize the injury with the protective equipment they had on the machines,” Badgley said.