Both friends had increased the challenge of New Hampshire Mount Washington Trail a month ago. They returned and again on Sunday to travel from neighboring peaks in the white mountains. Both experienced hiking, women were behind an hour behind their descent and lost daylight schedule, but they had warm clothing, head lamps and other gear.
Then the wind kicked. The temperature dropped. They were in the deep snow and white -out conditions. They were lost on the tallest mountain in the northeast, known for that Extreme, changing weather.
“There is nothing to stick to this ice,” said Amy Kotter, a season observer and education expert with the Mount Washington Observatory at the peak of 6,288 feet (1,916 meters). “That snow is very easily flogged.”
Catharan Makki’s snake was trapped in a “spruce trap”, a hole born in the ice under the trees.
“It took 20 minutes to get out of it,” he told the Associate Press. “And that’s happening. And so we arrived at a place where we were literally, as we try to go to the next place, crawling on our stomachs and just struggle that it was not working.
About an hour after trying to save yourself, South Borrow, 54, of Massachusetts’ West Borrow, called 911, 51 -year -old Massachusetts. He arrived at New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officers, who planned and directed their GPS Coordination. To the trail – just 34 feet (10 meters) away.
This did not work.
“They ended on the trail several times but could not follow it, because it was completely erased with the wind and the snow,” the sergeant said. Matthew Holmes of the Fish and Sports Department. After numerous efforts that are trying to detect the trail and several phone calls started around 6pm, “both of them need to be warm to keep warm and wait for help.”
Holmes said the peak was at the time of zero (minus 19 degrees), with strong winds between 50 to 60 mph (80 to 96 km per hour).
McKi and Lilichur were trapped at a height of about 5,000 feet (1,524 meters).
McKi said he was wearing gloves with a liner, but still lost his hands due to the cold.
“I went to my first aid baby to catch emergency blankets and extra hands warmers,” he said. “I couldn’t open the chest because my hands were frozen.”
The two sat there with the air for about six hours.
“I was nervous that my friend could pass in front of me and, you know, or I could die,” said McKie. “And how did we get here? So, you think about it, but you can’t be in the process of thinking because it won’t take you out. So we just kept focusing on what the next thing we can do. “
McKi said he grabbed a bag and used it as a windguard. It was wrapped in a sleepy mattress and the bag used on the bag.
“I was buried in the snow at the time, so it was primarily an insulator. So helped it. But that also meant that I was dynamic, I was not really moving.
By the end of Sunday, Mount Washington State Park Snukat, a sky -researchers, launched the Mountain Auto Road with nine rescuers and arrived at the summit just before midnight. The crew dropped the snow on the snow flowing from the wind. He contacted the last leading location of the hikers at 1:20 pm on Monday, but had not yet contacted.
Holmes said, “The only way to detect the trail was through the GPS navigation, and it was slow to go because of the tremendous effort to break the trail in the dark snow.”
Makki and Lilichur were found after half an hour. He was mostly suffering from frost bytes in his hands.
The staff set up emergency shelters for them, and by 3am on Monday morning, they managed to move forward. Until 4:15 am, the rescue and hiking tracked, reached the base station of the coag railway, a locomotive train led by the mountain peak.
Holmes said both women were prepared to increase the winter, had an emergency gear and had a winter hiking experience. But they did not expect them to lose the trial. McKi and Lilichur trained to increase the Apalachen Mountain Club chapter in the Massachusett’s version.
McKie said of his researchers, “We feel really terrible about calling this (911), but it has saved our lives, and we are thankful forever.”
They both said they would hiking once again in the white mountains and would add a small popup tent to their gear if they need refuge.
“You either come back to the horse, or you don’t,” said McKie. “There is no problem I have to return to the horse. I’m going to save it as much as I can. But I admit that there are risks to what we do.
