Alaska Man Survives 700-Pound Boulder Crushing Him in Creek with Help from Wife
Rescue crews airlift Kell Morris from a creek near Seward after he becomes trapped face-down under a massive boulder.
An Alaska man’s life was saved in dramatic fashion after a 700-pound boulder pinned him face-down in a frigid creek near the Godwin Glacier, outside Seward. The incident occurred on an isolated, undeveloped trail behind a state prison last Saturday while Kell Morris, 61, was out hiking with his wife, Jo Roop.
Morris found himself in peril when a cascade of large boulders—some weighing up to 1,000 pounds—lined the rocky creek bed they were traversing. Despite his efforts to avoid obvious hazards along the banks, Morris described how the ground underneath him suddenly gave way. “I was coming back and everything, the whole side slid out from under me,” he recalled.
The force of the collapse sent Morris tumbling down a twenty-foot embankment, leaving him face-down in the freezing water. Almost instantly, a 700-pound rock rolled onto his back, pinning him beneath the water’s surface. Desperate to keep her husband alive, Roop, a retired Alaska State Trooper, managed to hold his head above the water, preventing him from drowning. Meanwhile, Morris began drifting in and out of consciousness, suffering from hypothermia and awaiting help.
With no immediate rescue in sight and after trying unsuccessfully for half an hour to free her husband—using smaller rocks for leverage—Roop trekked to a spot where she could find cell signal and called 911, providing exact GPS coordinates thanks to her law enforcement training. This decision proved crucial, setting off a rapid response from area agencies.
A volunteer firefighter, coincidentally working for a local helicopter tour company, heard the emergency call and coordinated with a pilot to fly six firefighters directly to the scene. Since the helicopter was unable to land in the unstable boulder field, the rescuers bravely jumped from the hovering aircraft to reach the injured hiker.
Upon arrival, firefighters deployed specialized air bags—typically used in vehicle extractions—to gently lift the enormous rock just enough for the team to pull Morris to safety. “It just became an all-hands brute force of ‘one, two, three, push,’” said Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites. “And seven guys were able to lift it enough to pull the victim out.” Crews then worked quickly to rewarm Morris, whose condition improved as his core temperature rose.
Morris was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where he is expected to make a full recovery. Officials emphasized that time was of the essence, and without the rapid helicopter-assisted response, the outcome could have been much more dire. “There is no doubt that without the help from Seward Helicopter Tours this incident could have had a much different and potentially fatal outcome,” the fire department noted.
Looking back on the harrowing ordeal, Morris expressed gratitude for his wife’s quick thinking and the seamless actions of first responders. “I was very lucky. God was looking out for me,” he reflected, grateful to be alive thanks to courage, teamwork, and a remarkable rescue effort deep in the Alaskan wilderness.
