Denali National Park and Preserve will have an on-call helicopter on standby for emergency missions, said public information officer Maureen McLaughlin. The park service entered into 70-day on-call contract starting May 4 with Wasilla helicopter company Prism.

A B3 Astar helicopter will be stationed at the NPS helipad at the Talkeetna airport. McLaughlin said that the helicopter is slated to come to Talkeetna later on this week to allow for NPS staff to be introduced to new features of the aircraft.

A report in the Anchorage Daily News stated that contracting issues prevented the presence of a helicopter on stand-by in case of emergencies at the beginning of the climbing season. However, the issues are resolved and a helicopter is going to be stationed in Talkeetna on standby.

 McLaughlin said that the helicopter will not land above an artificially imposed ceiling of 14,500 feet as most evacuations occur from Medical Camp at 14,200 feet or below. For higher elevation rescues, the Park Service will either request the Army’s Chinook aircraft out of Fairbanks or the Army National Guard out of Anchorage.

Mclaughlin said that she expects climber numbers to be around 1,200 for this season.

Story by Diana Haecker