The hiker’s wife called the agency around 6:30 a.m. Saturday after Chen texted her that she was “cold and wet and could not go on” and that she “felt she would die without rescue.” “, According to other news. edition issued on Sunday. NHFG officers had already received several calls that day from cold and wet hikers seeking rescue, most of whom were crossing high altitudes in the presidential district, the statement said. Due to the “terrible nature” of Chen’s call, rescue teams responded immediately and requested additional resources, including officers from across the state and Mountain Rescue Service personnel. “Conditions on the high peaks were insidious: icy temperatures, rain, sleet, snow and winds over 80 mph. Only those with experience, training and the appropriate equipment were used for this rescue,” the statement said. In all, nine mountain rescue personnel and six maintenance officers responded to Chen’s rescue effort, according to the NHFG. Two rescue teams landed near the summit around 9:30 p.m. and 22:30 and walked through “rain, snow and winds of 50-60 mph with gusts over 80 mph” to reach the site where Chen is believed to be inside, the statement said. Due to the accumulation of ice on the road, chains were placed on the tires of the park trucks to lead the rescuers to the top. At around 10:38 a.m., the first rescue team found Chen, who was “not responding even in a highly hypothermic condition,” the statement said. Rescuers immediately placed a temporary shelter on top of him and tried to warm him up, he said. After finding signs of life, rescuers took him more than a mile to the top of Mount Washington, according to the announcement. At the summit, Chen was put in a truck and taken to an ambulance that took him to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin, about 24 miles northeast of Mount Washington, the NHFG said. Attempts were made to rescue Chen for several hours, but he could not be revived and was pronounced dead, the NHFG said. Many of the hikers who called for rescue on Saturday were unprepared for the weather forecast for Saturday, according to the NHFG. “The forecast weather conditions, especially for the highest peaks, were not taken into account by many hikers,” the service said in a statement. “Many found themselves unprepared for the dangerous conditions above the line of trees and instead of going back or being rescued to safer altitudes, they went ahead and finally called 911 in anticipation of rescue.” By the time the NHFG received the emergency call for Chen, officers were already in the middle of transporting an injured hiker from the Centennial Trail to Shelburne, the agency said. “Sometimes having enough equipment is not enough,” the NHFG advises. “In the weather that was experienced this weekend, it is better to get off and get away from the wind and the cold instead of pushing until it is too late.” CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.
