Kell Morris does not remember exactly how he started tumbling or how he ended up on his stomach, but he remembers when a 700-pound boulder hit his back – the jolt of pain it caused as it pinned him down, and how instantly he knew he was in trouble.
Morris, 61, said it was a “beautiful, beautiful day” on May 24 in Seward, Alaska, where he lives with his wife, Joanna Roop. The pair decided to hike near a remote glacier more than 120 miles south of Anchorage.
They had been looking for a spot to cross a creek when the earth holding a group of boulders gave way. Morris said he tried to almost surf the sliding gravel but lost his footing and tumbled down.
“The next thing I know, I’m face down in the creek and you can still hear these rocks,” he said.
Roop, 61, also heard that distinctive sound.
She ran to the area of the slide, calling for her husband but there was no answer.
When she saw him, Roop said, it felt like the situation went from “worse to worse.”
Trapped under the massive boulder, Morris was just about holding himself out of the cold glacier water that feeds the creek.
“We kind of assessed that I’m not going to last long in this cold water,” Morris said, and he sent his wife with both their cellphones off in search of a signal. After walking around 300 yards, Roop connected to a 911 dispatcher.
Rescue crews from several agencies, including the Seward Fire Department and the Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department, mobilized.
But the extreme terrain of the area meant progress was slow. Then, a Bear Creek volunteer who works for Seward Helicopter Tours heard the 911 dispatch call.
The volunteer and a pilot offered to pick up six firefighters and take them to where Morris was pinned.
Rescuers found Morris suffering from hypothermia and wavering in and out of consciousness, face down in a creek with the boulder on his back, and Roop holding his head out of the water, the Seward Fire Department said in a news release.
Rescue crews used air bags, ropes and “brute force” to free him, the department said. After he was warmed up, Morris “became more alert, and his vitals improved,” the department said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times. By Christine Hauser © 2025 The New York Times Co.
