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.
I used to carry a waterproof and breathable Gore-tex bivvy sack plus insulating clothing includng dry socks and especially head covering. Much heat is lost through the head.
I use an Outdoor Research Helium bivy for cold, windy hikes. It has a low, wind shedding profile. Inside the bivy I use a high R factor sleep pad and a 0F sleeping bag, plus wool base layer.
PNW has been unusually cold here as well.
Poor guy was probably expecting “global warming” to provide warm sunny days.
BUT... Best tent I ever had for such conditions was the Northface Aerohead. That thing was bomb proof. I stayed many many weeks in the most adverse conditions in the winter Sierra Nevadas. All before the “ultralight” craze.
Many people don’t know it, but Mount Washington is where the highest occurrence of natural winds on earth were recorded at 231 mph on April 12, 1934.
That place is definitely not someplace to take lightly for sure.
Yes… See my post above about the 231 mph winds On Mount Washington back in 1934
And the anemometer blew away.
I’ve hiked this mountain a few times. Pretty crowded except in winter. Being crowded helps in case there is need for help, but much of the area is above tree line.
It’s a bit odd to hike to the summit. You’re in the wild, then suddenly at a crowded rest area ;-)
I like to hike, but not realy an avid hiker. Done Chocura and Three sisters in the winter. Katahdin three times, Washinton probably half a dozen. Nearby Presidential mountains are better if you want the wilderness experience.
Highest mountain east of the Mississippi is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina. I prefer hiking Linville Gorge if “down there.”
The bothy bag is for day hikes in parts of windy Britain.
The bothy bag isn’t a tent, but a hiker or two can put it over their head to get out of the Windchill or a rain, and boil up a tea or lunch.
I used to do some hiking, and went to a cool place on the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire called Smarts Mountain. Lot of memories there. They had a fire tower up there, and a small ranger hut that was pretty beat up but could still be slept in.
Probably went up there with a bunch of people maybe a dozen times. This was luxury hiking, not like the poor guys we met who were hiking the whole trail and were constantly ravenous! We ALWAYS invited them to our hearty breakfasts and dinners, and their eyes would glow at the prospect of a good meal...:)
That was a lot of fun. Sigh, I am older now, probably never go back up there again, but...you never know.
Love it! It is pretty neat!
Tends to be a "spiritual" time for me, unless the mosquitos or black flies preoccupy me. No shop talk, no politics. It's okay to talk about food and beer and travel tho'!
I think I have the long coof, so travel any distance is pokey, especially with a load on. I keep working on it. Getting better, slowly.
I hear you...I just went back to work last week, but have a lingering cough. Poor wife is taking it harder, but...this is life!
A few years back we drove up Mt Washington near the end of August.
Amazingly enough it was a picture perfect day with practically unlimited visibility and very little wind.
It was awesome.
“...A lot of people don’t take Mount Washington seriously.” [rlmorel, post 17]
“...part of what makes Mt. Washington such a hazard. It doesn’t look like a very serious climb, and due to its location in a popular vacation area it attracts visitors who don’t have much, or any experience in mountain climbing or even serious hiking...” [freeandfreezing, post 48]
Thanks to its proximity to major urban areas, rural parts of New Hampshire are swarmed by ignorant, heedless visitors.
Among many other duties, conservation officers in New Hampshire must go out and rescue hikers who sustain injuries, become lost, or otherwise come to grief in the “wilder” areas of the state.
So many urbanite vacationers with minimal experience in rural setting have required rescuing, that the state now charges rescuees civil restitution of costs incurred, if it is later determined they were negligent in preparing for their excursions, or in failing to properly consider forecast bad weather, or similar lapses.
Exactly. I think this guy may have been one like those described...sadly.
I’ve had similar experiences near Mount Richthofen. The weather turned to storm clouds and lightening along the mountain side. We had to scramble our butts to get back down and off the mountainside before it turned worse. I would assess the danger as 7/10 but would have been life threatening if we had lingered.
I’m pretty sure that of all the problems Hitler is going through right now, being too cold is not one of them.
It was 24 F in Canaan Valley WV Sunday morning. Same weather station that reported -31, coldest day in US back this winter.
I read it the same.
HITLER! omg
He may not have been climbing the side of Mt. Washington that has the road.
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