US journalist who went missing while hiking in Norwegian National Park is found alive

Rescuers have found a US journalist who went missing on a hike in the remote Folgefonna national park, home to one of Norway’s largest glaciers.

Alec Luhn, 38, was found and taken to Bergen, Norway by helicopter, police said. He had been missing since 31 July as he was setting off for his hike in the park, which stretches 545 square kilometres in western Norway.

The reporter, who is from Wisconsin but based in the UK, is a Pulitzer Center Ocean Reporting Network fellow and has had two Emmy nominations. Formerly based in Moscow and Istanbul, he has reported for The New York Times, The Atlantic, and was a regular Guardian Russia correspondent from 2013 to 2017.

His wife, journalist Veronika Silchenko, previously said he sent a picture from his last known location, Odda, on Thursday.

She made a public appeal on social media after becoming concerned when he failed to board his flight home.

“We exchanged a few texts [on Thursday],” she told CNN. “He told me that he is going to hike and sent me a picture. He looked fine, the weather was fine. “On Monday, we decided that we need to call the services, because he should have gotten out of the park by that time and probably would have been able to find the internet. So we started really panicking.”

Rescue dogs, Red Cross volunteers, special crews for alpine and glacier searches, drones and a Norwegian Air Force helicopter all searched the area with police.

The experienced hiker had been on a family holiday before setting out on a solo backpacking trip from Odda, according to friends.

Folgefonna National Park, known for its dramatic glacier tongues, wild valleys, and fast-flowing rivers, has drawn adventurous tourists since 1833.

However, its remote and rugged terrain can turn perilous in harsh weather conditions.

“Alec is basically obsessed with the Arctic,” Ms Silchenko told CBS News. “He loves glaciers and snow, and he loves explorers. He’s a climate journalist, so for him it is always that story that now because of the climate change they’re all shrinking, and he’s trying his best to go to the coldest countries.”