What began as a routine solo hike in Norway’s Folgefonna National Park nearly turned fatal for American journalist Alec Luhn, who survived six days stranded on a mountainside after tumbling down a cliff.
Luhn, 38, set out in late July to trek across the glacier-filled reserve, but disaster struck on his first day. The sole of his boot began to fall apart — a setback he ignored. Hours later, one wrong step sent him crashing down the side of a ridge near the Buarbreen glacier.
“I just remember sliding, spinning, and then pinballing down the mountain,” he recalled. When he finally stopped, his femur was snapped, his pack ripped apart, and his phone and water were gone.
Immobilized, he faced blistering sun by day and cold rain by night. With only a handful of peanuts and granola bars, Luhn soon resorted to drinking his own urine to stay alive. “My mouth was so dry, the food just turned to concrete,” he said.
Back in London, his wife, Veronika Silchenko, grew alarmed when he missed his return flight and alerted Norwegian authorities. Search teams faced delays from heavy rain, but on August 6 a helicopter crew finally spotted him after he flagged them down with a tent pole and bandanna.
Relief overcame him when rescuers waved back. “That’s when I knew it was over,” Luhn said.
Reunited with his wife in hospital, his ordeal left him reflective.
“The most painful thing was thinking I might never see my wife or family again,” he said.
