JUNEAU, Alaska ― Students and teaching assistants have arrived back in Juneau from a remote mountaineering class that was cut short when one of their professors was mauled by a brown bear.
They said Tuesday night that they were tired and not yet ready to talk about Forest Wagner, 35, who was teaching the class on Mount Emmerich near Haines. The University of Alaska Southeast assistant professor was attacked by the brown bear sow on Monday. The mountain is near Kicking Horse River in Alaska’s panhandle.
A student hiked into cellphone range on the mountain and called Haines police, who reported it to the Alaska State Troopers. Haines police would not comment on the incident.
Initial reports were that Wagner had extensive injuries to a leg, according to a police report shared with the Washington Post.
Wagner arrived in Anchorage in critical condition, but he was later upgraded to serious condition on Tuesday. A hospital spokesman said he would not give interviews.
Wagner has been coordinating and teaching in the university’s outdoor studies program since 2006, according to his biography. He teaches rock and ice climbing, backcountry navigation, glacier travel and mountaineering.
It took several hours to get Wagner from the mountain to the hospital. Troopers reported that they were called just before noon, but Wagner didn’t arrive at the Providence Alaska Medical Center until after 4 p.m. Wagner was transferred between two helicopters and first reported to be headed to Juneau before he was taken to Anchorage. Haines is about 90 miles north of Juneau and more than 500 miles from Anchorage.
