Students return from mountaineering class after Alaska bear mauling

Students and teaching assistants have arrived back in Juneau, Alaska from a remote mountaineering class that was cut short when one of their professors was mauled by a brown bear.

• Alaska professor in intensive care after bear attack

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 when he was attacked by the brown bear sow on Monday. 

University Chancellor Rick Caulfield was waiting at the Juneau ferry terminal when the students arrived late Tuesday evening. 

He said administrators would make sure the students got counseling if they needed it. Students also would be able to take their end-of-semester finals which are scheduled to begin next week, Caulfield said. 

Alaska State Troopers' spokeswoman Megan Peters said she did not have details about the attack.

"From what it sounds like, they were spread out," Peters said. "I don't know if anybody actually witnessed the mauling except for the person that was mauled."

Hours to get to hospital

A student hiked into cellphone range to report the attack, and it took several hours to get Wagner from the mountain to the hospital. Wagner was transferred between two helicopters and was first reported to be headed to Juneau before he was taken to Anchorage, roughly 800 kilometres away. 

Peters said the delay is unavoidable when dealing with accidents in rural Alaska. 

"People are used to being in urban places where it takes a matter of minutes to get that help," Peters said. 

None of the students was injured, but they were evacuated from the mountains.

An Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist planned to interview the students upon their return to Juneau, spokesman Ken Marsh said.

Wagner is the second man attacked by a bear in Alaska within days. A 77-year-old bear hunter is recovering at an Anchorage hospital from injuries he suffered when a grizzly mauled him in interior Alaska on Friday.