'I COULDN'T LEAVE HER THERE TO DIE . . . MAN HIRES MOUNTAIN HELICOPTERS TO RESCUE HER

Anchorage Daily News, April 1, 1994

Martin Martinez is $600 poorer, but he has his dog Lupine back after plucking the 4-year-old golden retriever Irish setter mix off the slopes of a peak near Palmer. Lupine vanished Wednesday afternoon after a cornice gave way and she plunged down the side of steep couloir in the Knik Valley.

Martinez said he didn't see her fall. He crawled out onto the snow and called her name. There was no response, and finally Martinez trudged home convinced his pet was dead.

But that night, he said he dreamed Lupine was standing at the foot of his bed and he knew he had to go back. "I wasn't sure if she was dead, and I couldn't deal with myself. I couldn't leave her there to die a slow death. She's like my climbing partner."

So Thursday morning, the 33-year-old tree seller called Dave Botich of Mountain Helicopters and persuaded him to help. Botich said Martinez didn't have much money, but he said he could pay with gold nuggets. "I told him 'I hope your dog's valuable cause it's going to be a little costly,' " he said. Botich charges $325 an hour of flying time and $75 per hour on the ground. He finally settled on $600 for a day's work.

When they took off, both men were sure they would find Lupine dead at the base of the slope. But as they circled near the top of the peak, they spotted the dog less than 40 feet below the peak. She had climbed up the steep couloir, but couldn't reach the last part a sheer, vertical cliff, and had burrowed herself into the snow.

Neither of them was prepared to do a rescue, so they flew back to Martinez's home in the Butte. Botich said he thought they should get some help. But everybody they called Alaska State Troopers, a mountain rescue group and the military refused to help.

"I guess they thought it was just a dog," Martinez said. So, the two decided to do it themselves. Martinez got some gear, recruited his longtime climbing buddy Bob Crawford, and the three took off.

Botich said he dropped the two off on a ridge about 1,000 feet below where Lupine was, then flew to a spot where he could land. The two men hiked up to the top. When they arrived, Martinez said, a couple ravens were perched nearby and an eagle was circling overhead. Just below was an eager and uninjured Lupine.

Martinez said he rappelled down, and wrapped some line around his dog, and then had Crawford pull her up. "When I saw the two of them and the dog running around wagging its tail, I was totally amazed," Botich said. "No human being would have ever survived the fall."

Martinez said he figures Lupine was following the scent of some sheep when the cornice broke off. "You know retrievers, they are so curious. I've always said 'Lupine, one of these days you're going to go too close to

the edge.' "

Copyright (c) 1994, Anchorage Daily News