Rescue crews helped three hikers who became overwhelmed by deep snow and whiteout conditions on New Hampshire’s Franconia Ridge last night.
On Sunday, February 9 at 5:30 p.m., New Hampshire conservation officers received a report of an SOS alert from the area of Mount Lincoln. The Rescue Coordination Center had received an alert from a Garmin device.
With little information, officers made calls to the emergency contacts for the device, who reported a group of three males had intended a winter hike of the Falling Waters/Bridle Path Loop. Eventually it was learned from the group that they were experiencing white out conditions and suffering from cold related injuries, eventually stating in a text that they needed help.
Tracking of the device showed that they were slowly moving towards the summit of Mount Lafayette. A team of rescuers comprised of conservation officers and volunteers with the Pemi Valley Search and Rescue Team responded to the trailhead.
By 7:30 p.m., the first rescuers started up the Old Bridle Path as the hikers had started a slow descent of Mount Lafayette towards the Greenleaf Hut. No more messages had been received from the group as they had explained it was difficult to text messages in the cold and wind.
At 9:10 p.m., the first rescuers came in contact with the group just below Greenleaf Hut. The group was given additional light sources as some of their light sources had gone dead and they started back towards the trailhead, arriving without further incident at 10:20 p.m.
The three were identified as Jack Tragni, 24, of Boston, Massachusetts, Justin Yang, 24, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Vaishnav Raja, 25, of Boston. The three had departed around 9 a.m. that morning and had ascended Falling Waters Trail to Franconia Ridge.
Progress across the ridge was slowed by deep snow and white out conditions, making the trail difficult to follow. After going over Mount Lincoln, they felt turning back wasn’t the prudent decision, so they continued on.
They said they admittedly panicked when they activated the SOS on their device, but they knew it would take hours for rescuers to get to their location.
Officials said the group was fairly well prepared for winter conditions but lacked experience above treeline. This was a training hike for Mount Washington, which they said is now put on hold.
The group also had a Hike Safe Card.