20 stranded hikers rescued at Grand Canyon

An 11-hour effort to rescue 20 Northern Arizona University hikers snowed in at the Grand Canyon concluded at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, thanks to the assistance of an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter.

The rescued hikers were flown to Jacob Lake, Ariz., near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and were met by NAU transport vehicles, according to the Coconino County sheriff’s office. They were driven back to NAU’s campus.

The hikers were being rescued in groups of three and no one was hurt, according to Coconino County sheriff spokesman Gerry Blair. The helicopter had to fly into Utah twice to refuel, he said.

The 16 NAU students, two graduate students who were assisting and two faculty members are part of a wilderness training course, university spokesman Tom Bauer said. The group was on a six-day trip that started Wednesday.

They got stranded about 30 miles south of Fredonia, Ariz., and 20 miles west of Arizona State Route 67, a release from the Coconino sheriff’s office said.

Staff and students “all had proper equipment,” including satellite phones, Bauer said. The group holed up in vans to wait out the weather.

The hikers got stuck in the vehicles at Sowats Point after a winter storm hit Northern Arizona and Southern Nevada on Monday about 1 p.m.

One to two feet of snow fell in the area where the group had to stop, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Lericos, who says a winter storm warning was in effect Monday.

“It wouldn’t take much snow to make roads impassable,” Lericos said of the backcountry area where the group is waiting.

Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj. Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV.