powderfreak

Sounds like a ridiculously busy weekend for hypothermic hikers in the Whites.  The worst one here was a guy who they found unresponsive due to hypothermia.

Hypothermic Hiker Carried Off Gulfside Trail Near Mt. Clay
 
Thompson & Meserves Purchase – A high risk rescue effort was conducted for a severely hypothermic hiker on the Gulfside Trail in the vicinity of Mt. Clay Saturday night and into Sunday morning by members of Fish & Game’s Advanced Search and Rescue Team and the North Conway based Mountain Rescue Services (MRS).  Fish & Game was initially alerted to this situation by the spouse of the hiker at around 6:30 p.m.  The hiker had sent a text message to his wife telling her that he was cold and wet and could not continue on.  He further wrote that he felt he would die without a rescue.

Conservation Officers were already immersed in the carryout of an injured hiker from the Centennial Trail in Shelburne when this call came in.  This was not the only call received this day.  Beginning at around 2:00 p.m. Fish and Game Officers received multiple calls from hikers who were cold, wet and calling for rescues, most were on the high elevation summits and ridgelines of the Presidential Range.  

However, due to the dire nature of this call, an immediate rescue attempt was initiated and additional resources had to be called in to respond to include conservation officers from around the state and MRS personnel.  The conditions in the high peaks were treacherous; freezing temperatures, rain, sleet, snow and winds gusting over 80 mph.  Only those with the experience, training and adequate gear were utilized for this rescue. 

Mt. Washington State Parks personnel were also called up and were instrumental in transporting rescue personnel from the base of the Auto Road to the summit.  Chains were placed on the tires of a State Parks truck due to the buildup of ice on the upper section of the road.  Rescuers were dropped off near the summit and hiked into ferocious winds in an attempt to locate the stricken hiker.

With the travel time and all the associated preparation to conduct a rescue of this magnitude the first group of rescuers were dropped off near the summit with the task of hiking down into the location the hiker was thought to be and locating him.  They started in at approximately 9:30 p.m.  The second group headed in at around 10:30 p.m.

Rescuers endured driving rain, blowing snow and sustained 50-60 mph winds with gusts over 80 mph to reach the location that the hiker was believed to be located.  At 10:38 p.m. the first team located the hiker who was unresponsive and in a highly hypothermic state.  They provided immediate care by placing a temporary shelter over him and attempted to warm him up.  Failing to elicit a response, but detecting signs of life, the crew jumped into action, placed him in a litter and immediately started carrying him up towards to the summit of Mt. Washington.  

The freezing rain continued to fall and the high winds still buffeted them as they attempted to save his live in this exposed location.  The team carried the hiker over a mile up to the summit of Mt. Washington where he was placed in a truck and driven down the Auto Road to the base where the Gorham Ambulance was waiting.  The arrived at 1:20 a.m.  He was transported by the Gorham Ambulance to Androscoggin Valley Hospital (AVH) in Berlin.  His condition remains unknown at the time of this press release.  His name is being withheld pending notification of family members.  

All in all 9 MRS and 6 conservation officers, including 3 who had taken part in the carryout of the injured hiker earlier in the day, responded to this rescue.

The forecasted weather conditions, particularly for the higher summits, was not heeded by many hikers and several found themselves unprepared for the dangerous conditions above tree line and instead of turning back or bailing out to safer elevations, they continued on and ultimately called 911 expecting a rescue.  Members of Randolph Mountain Club rescued a hiker suffering from hypothermic conditions and managed to carry her down off the elevations to an RMC hut.  Another hiker who called 911 for help while hiking on the Tuckerman Ravine trail was provided warm clothing by Good Samaritan hikers who ultimately assisted him to an AMC hut where he was able to find shelter and warm up.  And yet another group of hikers called for a rescue while on the summit of Mt. Eisenhower complaining that they were wet and cold.  Sometimes having enough gear is not enough.  In weather conditions experienced this weekend it is better to descend and get out of the wind and cold instead of pushing on until it is too late.

1 hour ago, MaineJayhawk said:

Happy 51st anniversary!  Most impressive

That is.  Wow.  Congrats Tamarack.

13 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

Are you going up there for a ski getaway , if so I get spending significantly less as much time would be on slopes . 
Hotels are up like 30-35% year over year so it’s kind of ridiculous these days . Run of the mill hotels in N Conway were 325$ per weekend nite recently . I’ve never paid more than 399$ a nite at Spruce. (Edit I just scanned hotels.com and maybe PF could confirm but Spruce Peak has jacked their prices up more than surrounding Stowe hotels for certain - they are “worth it” but they no longer look the value they had been for the last 4-5 years )

There are some hotels that are destinations themselves for me in Spruce peak is one , I spend the entire day at the heated pool, take gondola jacuzzi , breakfast , gym etc and even just sit and read in a the most beautiful open hotel common area , the others I would struggle to  pay 300$ just to lay my head down for a Nite If I was not going to be there much of the day 

Another in Stowe that I like is the stowehof, I could see this as a solid place If I was skiing but also has a very nice relaxed clean vibe . In fact If it wasn’t part of a ski vacation I would stay there ..enjoy breakfast , there is a very cool sunken library lunge Type space for reading with nice views and I wood take the middle of the day and not hesitate to crash the amenities at spruce peak. Simply park in back lot , bring a small changing bag, nobody in entire hotel will care (as there are many day guests ) and go to locker room , put on suit and enjoy a nice heated pool against the backdrop of mount Mansfield.

 

Lodge at Spruce is a Hyatt property now instead of Destination Hotels, not sure if that has anything to do with it.

Summer is the town’s busiest season believe it or not, but it’s definitely getting expensive from high demand.  Rates just go up, up and up each year it seems… but I guess that’s like every other consumer good too.

I got a chuckle out of this, friend posted it. AirBnB’s are everywhere and it’s wild that you can rent a canvas tent for almost $200 a night.

All the sudden $400-$500 a night for the luxury of Spruce Peak doesn’t sound that bad.

20 minutes ago, mreaves said:

Wind burn is what I’m guessing. 

I will admit his ability to stay on-brand this weekend has been something special after a week of tossing all model guidance in favor of deep summer.

39F up top and low-50s base but man is it beautiful.

12 minutes ago, dendrite said:

1.3” snow/sleet on the rock pile overnight

Tannin’ and swimmin’.

If the sun comes out tomorrow, we should see nice temps approaching shorts-wearing levels.  Quite an improvement so maybe the entire weekend isn’t lost.

“Previous Discussion... Where the sun shines, we will see temperatures boosted well into the 60s. Have lowered dew points a little below the NBM with values in the sunnier areas mainly in the 30s.“

Same temperature as the Massif all the way up here.  Mother Nature is an equal opportunity employer.

That cold pool aloft rotated well south and through SNE.

The 18z GFS shows it while it's happening.  H85 and H7.

H7

21 minutes ago, dendrite said:

49° and rain for DIT right now. The pool may actually be the place to be to stay warm.

Get out.  He’s in the 40s now?  Colder than many a Grinch storm.

What a time to dig in and go down with the ship. Sometimes you gotta know when to get in the life raft.

6 minutes ago, Typhoon Tip said:

Deform band is emerging 

  Can’t get this in January.

Where was this last winter.

The mountain has been getting wrecked.  Almost 1.25” water on the day now at 1500ft.  This would be a solid 1-2 footer at the Picnic tables if it were just a few degrees Celsius colder at H85.  The Spine follows the county border north/south of I-89… been lit up all day.

7 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

On nice days like this.. folks swim 

Your heat on inside yet at 55-56F outside?

I think you owe the GFS an apology.

Snowing on Whiteface in the Adirondacks at near 5,000ft.

34 minutes ago, kdxken said:

Are they drunk?

They tell me all summer that 50s and 60s aren’t meant for swimming .

Mountain base area station just hit 1.00” of rainfall… what an upslope event.  Rare in later June.

3 minutes ago, Cold Miser said:

Whopping 63 and breezy.  Ate grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch. Such an autumn feel.

 

It’s even colder at many sites than I thought it’d be down there.  Figured Kev at like mid-60s while valleys around 70F.

Instead it’s like the colder GFS runs of upper 50s hills to 60-65F at the ASOS spots like BDL/IJD.

28 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Ouch.

Mother Nature has some irony that even his cheap midnight max was 69.1F… just below the touted 70F.

59F in the afternoon on Saturday… that damn GFS.

2 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Yeah at least it’s partly sunny and in the 60s. Could be worse lol.

Just saw Tolland High STEM says 62F, "Cloudy and Windy" with NW gusts to 30mph.

Tanning, pools and beers.  Maybe the models can figure some things out from time to time?

3 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

46. Pretty impressive. 

Its laughable... I mean if it's going to go cold and crappy, might as well go all the way.

This is truly special.  You feel for any of the dozen weddings happening around Stowe, ha.

Just steady small-droplet sheet rains, gusty winds and it's in the 40s.

I just walked over to the Beanery coffee shop in the plaza and two families are buying hot chocolates.  No one is outside.

Looks like the heavier rain will arrive from the north soon.  It's been pouring out of those weak returns banked up against the Spine.  Should get nicer when the deeper moisture arrives.

Classic winter pattern .

lol car says 45F in the parking lot up outside of Mtn Ops.  Hammering NW winds, trees down on the Toll Road.  Drenching small droplet sheet rains.

Gondi top crew reporting 38F inside the terminal. Break out the winter uniforms .

MWN 29F and wind chill of 10F.  Some hiker is going to get into a lot of trouble this weekend.

49F and windy.  Some real solid NW gusts.  Occasional rain too.

Have to make sure the heat doesn’t come on this weekend, ha.

3 hours ago, wxeyeNH said:

Just to bump up this thread..  I posted this on the June thread too...

Hum,  this cold air means business in NNE.  I know the NAM is the NAM but it came in really cold for Sunday night.  If NNE could clear out in time and go calm the temperatures could really bottom out.

The GFS and Euro are in the upper 30's but take a look at the NAM temps.

Frost advisory for the north country?  Alex better cover up those tomatoes.

That's bonkers.  Almost unbelievable as even model guidance.

3 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Still swampy here with a dew of 67.

Gotta embrace it in the Tropics.  That's swamp.

Steinless in Stowe.  Now playing in a theater near you.

Got wet this evening as a cell popped up over Mansfield and then drifted east into town.  Life being downwind of the Spine in summer.

Decent rainbow as it moved away.