American hiker who went missing on Norwegian glacier rescued

An American hiker who hadn’t been heard from for six days during a solo backpacking trip on a glacier in Norway has been found, the local Red Cross said on Wednesday.

Alec Luhn, a 38-year-old journalist and Wisconsin native, didn’t make contact with his wife Veronika on Monday when he was due to finish a hike in Folgefonna National Park, in the country’s southwest.

The Red Cross, who were part of the rescue operation, said Luhn had been found alive near Folgefonna.

“He was located by helicopter crew and has now been transported for medical treatment,” the organization posted on X.

It was not known what condition Luhn was in.

The rescue operation had resumed on Wednesday morning after difficult weather conditions hampered the search.

“A large team of volunteers are mobilized, including specialized climbing teams and drones,” the Red Cross said in a post on X less than two hours before announcing that Luhn had been found.

“Difficult terrain, poor visibility, rain and high water levels have complicated access to key areas, but the weather has improved,” the post added.

Norwegian Red Cross Spokeswoman Ingeborg Thorsland told NBC News that the organization had deployed 35 volunteers for the search mission.

“Yesterday, rescue workers could not pass over some of the bridges because water levels were too high… and drones could not be deployed at times, due to the limited visibility,” she added.

Luhn, who has worked for multiple media outlets including CBS, The Telegraph and The Guardian, failed to make contact with his wife on Monday, causing her to alert Norwegian authorities. He then missed his flight home to London that evening, where the couple live.

Luhn had last been seen on the afternoon of July 31, Veronika Silchenko told NBC News before he was found.

“I knew that there would be no connection, most probably. So he marked spots of his hike on my map, just in case, and we sort of agreed that he’ll contact me as soon as he had reception,” she said.

Silchenko said Luhn was a very experienced hiker.

“He hikes all the time. A lot of times we hike together… he knows what he’s doing,” she said.

He had planned to stay at DNT Holmaskjer and DNT Breidablikk and finish the hike on Monday morning but may have changed plans due to the poor weather, she added.

Folgefonna National Park consists of three glaciers and covers 210 square miles, according to the park’s website.

Luhn graduated from The University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a foreign correspondent in Moscow for more than 10 years before turning his attention to climate reporting.

“He’s very curious. He has a great love for adventures. He is strong and very resilient,” Silchenko told NBC News.

“He loves the mountains and he loves the glaciers. That’s why he changed his focus and his career from Russia to climate change and the environment.”

His work has won multiple journalism awards and has been nominated for two Emmys.