An American hiker survived for nearly a week in the Norwegian wilderness after becoming lost during a hiking excursion. Alec Luhn, 38, shared his unbelievable story of survival with The New York Times.
What happened to Alec Luhn?
In July, Luhn traveled to Norway along with his wife, Veronika Silchenko, and the rest of his family for a summer holiday. Luhn, who works as a climate journalist and is an avid hiker, decided to embark on a solo journey after realizing that their hotel was located within striking distance of Folgefonna National Park, home to the world’s third-largest glacier. Luhn set off without Silchenko, planning to complete his hike by Aug. 4 before flying home to England. “That was the plan,” Luhn said. “I didn’t get that far into it before disaster struck.”
Within hours of setting off, Luhn said he began making a series of decisions which were ultimately disastrous. First, he neglected to bring a GPS device. Then, the sole of his left boot began to deteriorate. He patched it with athletic tape, negatively affecting the shoe’s traction. “I should have turned back and bought some new boots,” he admitted. “It was very steep terrain but I kept pushing through, and I made another bad decision,” he said. Late that night, he came across a suitable spot for camping. But for some reason, he decided to keep walking.
Late into the night, as he climbed higher, Luhn lost his footing and fell. He hit the ground hard, smashing his backpack and emptying his supplies across the area. “I remember the terrible feeling of that fall beginning,” he said. “I was spinning around really quickly and started bouncing around, like a pinball heading down the mountain.” Luhn was grievously injured in the tumble, breaking his femur and fracturing his pelvis as well as several vertebrae. His hands were also cut up, and he sustained a head injury.
How did Alec Luhn survive?
Luhn awoke the following morning with little memory of what happened. His water bottle was lost in the fall, so he had no way to stay hydrated. He’d also lost his iPhone, which he had foolishly set to airplane mode. “I am going to need to stay here and just pull through until at least someone gets worried about me,” he thought at the time. “A lot of things were going to have to go right for me to survive.”
After a few days, Luhn was getting desperate. Unable to chew a granola bar he’d packed because his mouth was so dry, he resorted to extreme measures. “I peed into one of my water pouches and then drank the urine to stay hydrated,” he shared. “I was so parched, I basically had to wash the granola down with my urine. I had a big blister on one of my fingers, I even sucked the blood out of that to try to get a little fluid.” Luckily, the following day brought a rain storm which allowed Luhn to drink his first water in days.
As Luhn remained trapped, over 50 rescue workers with the Norwegian Red Cross, assisted by drones, experienced climbers, and search dogs, spent two days scouring the countryside for the lost hiker. “Most searches are over within a couple of hours,” Anja Kristin Bakken, a spokeswoman for the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Norway, explained. “This one was extra challenging with heavy weather conditions…Finding Alec Luhn alive is a very good example of why we keep going.”
What has Alec Luhn said about his ordeal?
Through it all, Luhn says he never for a moment considered giving up. “I really felt like I wanted to survive and have a second chance at life,” he said. Luhn was taken to a hospital in Bergen, where he remains while being treated for his myriad injuries. He said that, despite the harrowing ordeal, he’s not going to be deterred from future adventures. However, he will make smarter decisions.
“I’ve encouraged many people to go hiking, you just have to be safe about it,” he said. “That’s what I plan to do in the future.” But before he hits the trail, Luhn has some more important plans. “I owe my wife a vacation to a warmer climate where there are no glaciers,” he said.
