The hiker’s partner known as the company Saturday round 6:30 p.m. after Chen despatched her a textual content message telling her he used to be “chilly and rainy and may just now not proceed on” and that he “felt he would die and not using a rescue,” in step with some other information free up issued Sunday.
NHFG officials had already won a couple of calls that day from chilly and rainy hikers inquiring for rescues, the vast majority of whom had been traversing top elevations within the Presidential Vary, the discharge mentioned. Because of the “dire nature” of the decision about Chen, rescue crews spoke back straight away and known as for extra sources, together with officials from across the state and Mountain Rescue Products and services team of workers.
“The stipulations within the top peaks had been treacherous: freezing temperatures, rain, sleet, snow, and winds gusting over 80 mph. Most effective the ones with the revel in, coaching, and good enough tools had been applied for this rescue,” the discharge mentioned. In overall, 9 mountain rescue team of workers and 6 conservation officials spoke back to try to rescue Chen, in step with NHFG.
Two groups of rescuers had been dropped off close to the summit at round 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. and hiked thru “riding rain, blowing snow, and sustained 50-60 mph winds with gusts over 80 mph” to achieve the positioning Chen used to be believed to be in, the discharge mentioned. Because of the accumulation of ice at the highway, chains had been positioned at the tires of park vehicles to power rescuers to the summit.
At about 10:38 p.m., the primary rescue group discovered Chen, who used to be “unresponsive and in a extremely hypothermic state,” the discharge mentioned. Rescuers straight away positioned a short lived refuge over him and attempted to heat him up, it mentioned.
After detecting indicators of lifestyles, rescuers carried him over a mile to the summit of Mt. Washington, in step with the discharge.
On the summit, Chen used to be positioned in a truck and pushed to a ready ambulance that transported him to the Androscoggin Valley Sanatorium in Berlin, about 24 miles northeast of the Mt. Washington summit, NHFG mentioned.
Lifestyles saving efforts had been carried out on Chen for a number of hours however he may just now not be revived and used to be pronounced lifeless, NHFG mentioned.
Most of the hikers who known as for rescues Saturday weren’t ready for the elements stipulations forecast on Saturday, in step with NHFG.
“The forecasted climate stipulations, in particular for the upper summits, used to be now not heeded via many hikers,” the company mentioned in its free up. “A number of discovered themselves unprepared for the damaging stipulations above tree line, and as an alternative of turning again or bailing out to more secure elevations, they endured on and in the end known as 911 anticipating a rescue.”
When NHFG won the emergency name about Chen, officials had been already in the middle of wearing an injured hiker out of the Centennial Path in Shelburne, the company mentioned.
“Infrequently having sufficient tools isn’t sufficient,” NHFG prompt. “In climate stipulations skilled this weekend, it’s higher to descend and get out of the wind and chilly as an alternative of pushing on till it’s too overdue.”
CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this document.
