Posted on 06/21/2022 12:31:24 PM PDT by SamAdams76
CONWAY, New Hampshire — A hiker who was suffering from severe hypothermia on a New Hampshire trail near Mt. Washington died at a hospital hours after rescuers faced driving rain, blowing snow, and winds gusting to over 80 mph to reach him, conservation officers said.
The hiker was rescued from Gulfside Trail on Saturday night. Xi Chen, 53, of Andover, Massachusetts, was overcome by severe weather conditions.
Fish and Game Department officers said they heard from his wife, who said she received a text from Chen saying he was cold and wet and couldn't continue on.
“He further wrote that he felt he would die without a rescue," the department said in a news release.
Conservation officers received multiple rescue calls that day from hikers who were on the high-elevation summits and ridgelines of the Presidential Range.
“The conditions in the high peaks were treacherous," the news release said.
Rescuers carried Chen over a mile up to the summit of Mt. Washington, where he was placed on a truck and driven down the mountain's auto road to a hospital in Berlin. He was unable to be revived after several hours of life-saving efforts, the news release said.
Many tourists are caught by surprise by just how cold it can get up here in the summertime. I go camping in New Hampshire a lot and even in summer, I will pack heavy sweaters, a coat and gloves. It is not unusual to wake up in your tent and see your breath even in July.
This is what the top of Mount Washington looked like Sunday morning (the morning after the hiker perished).
It is a dangerous place.
Global warming, nope—the other day here N of Boston it was in the 50s but a 20 MPH wind from the NW made it feel chilly.
Early June some yrs ago..snow flurries in Franconia Notch NH
I will simply say that I am unlikely to die in this way. I have figured out how to prevent such an occurrence. It is a secret known only to a few.
...and 33 in August once on Mt Washington summit (van took us tourists up)
This is sort of like the cliffs south of Sydney, Australia. Hike along the tops overlooking the ocean and you see memorials to people who have been blown off the cliffs to their deaths.
Ahhhh. Silly boy. Don’t you know that extreme cold temperatures are just more evidence of Global warming?
There’s also those TS/SCI things known by the codename ‘Weather Forecasts’.
I have been along the Great Ocean Road and there are steep cliffs there too with no guardrails. And strong winds.
If it wasn’t for global warming, there would be no warming at all
The observatory is barely observable!
Cold and wet with high winds is a recipe for hypothermia.
Don't go hiking when the weather report says there is going to be a winter storm!
When I first read the banner to this, I thought it read: “Hitler dies after rescue in snow....”
I’m relieved the Fuhrer is all right.
He certainly did not have “The 10 Essentials” or have proper clothing and no survival training. I have been in conditions worse than that for weeks on end, climbing at high altitudes (14.000 to 22,000 ft) and have been a volunteer mountain climbing instructor with emphasis on survival and rescue training. Dangerous conditions can happen in New Hampshire or Colorado or many other places at any time of the year. What I saw climbing and hiking in Colorado was that about 75% of people I saw were ill prepared.
Frikking miserable. Then dead. He knew he was in trouble.
A lot of people don’t take Mount Washington seriously.
I lived in Boston for a few years. I remember hearing it said that’s the most dangerous mountain in America.
Coldest and wettest spring in recent histoir in the Northwest.
I know a fellow who spent a night in a tent on Mt. Washington when he was a young and stupid teen. He said he thought he was going to die but walked away unscathed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.