Death and Injury in the Presidentials

“The weather this time of year in the Presidentials gets even worse that what we (SirPete, Jerbear, WalkinDude and I) saw about a year ago.

Just yesterday it was much worse(excerpted from http://www.theunionleader.com/Articles_show.html?article=14079" target="_blank"> source story story ):

"Meanwhile, in Chandler’s Purchase, rescuers braved rugged weather in the Presidential Range to carry an injured hiker off Mount Washington. They will also return this morning to Mount Madison to retrieve the body of a second man stricken late yesterday.

Fish and Game Sgt. Doug Gralenski said last night that 11 conservation officers, as well as personnel from Mount Washington State Park, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the SOLO wilderness school and Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue were bringing a Connecticut man down from Mount Washington after he was injured in a fall near the Lake in the Clouds hut yesterday afternoon.

Robert Sanderson, 63, of Waterford, Conn., was injured on the Ammonoosuc Ravine trail about 1:30 p.m. The weather on the Northeast’s highest peak was brutal, Gralenski said shortly after 8 p.m.

“It’s very nasty,” he said. “They’re in 60 mph winds, the temperature is in the 30s, visibility is less than 100 feet and there’s snow and rain and ice. We’re in the teeth of winter-like weather.”

The rescue crew was expected to bring Sanderson off the mountain by 10 p.m., after carrying him off the Ammonoosuc Ravine trail more than 2 miles.

Meanwhile, the body of a 70-year-old remained on Mount Madison last night, Gralenski said, in similar weather conditions.

The unidentified male, he said, collapsed or was injured about a quarter of a mile from the Madison Spring hut. The hut crew went to the man’s aid but were unable to save him. The crew moved the body to the hut.

This morning Fish and Game conservation officers, as well as members of Upper Valley Search and Rescue and AVSAR, will bring the man off Mount Madison via the Valley Way trail."”

“yikes!!”

“Virginia man dies
on Mount Madison
By LORNA COLQUHOUN
Union Leader Correspondent

LOW AND BURBANK’S GRANT — An autopsy will be conducted on a Virginia man who died Wednesday on Mount Madison, according to Fish and Game officials.

Peter Busher, 71, of Chester Gap, Va., was found late that day about a quarter-mile from the Madison Spring hut, on the slopes of the 5,363-foot summit, according to Fish and Game Sgt. Doug Gralenski.

Busher, who was hiking alone, had left Maine and had been on the Appalachian Trail for about a month, Gralenski said. The man’s diary indicated he had fallen and suffered a head injury on Monday. Other hikers came upon him and sought help from the crew at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s hut a short distance away.

Without a stretcher, the crew carried Busher to the hut, but Gralenski said the hiker died before they could reach it.

“When the team from the hut got to him, he was alive, but in poor condition,” he said. “He had been very exposed to the wind and elements and they were attempting to get him back to the hut when he passed away.”

At the time the hut crew was aiding Busher, two dozen volunteers and conservation officers headed up Mount Washington in winter conditions to carry an injured Connecticut man from Lake in the Clouds. He was brought off the mountain by 9 p.m.

“We were stretched thin, but we would have gotten people up (to Mount Madison) if Mr. Busher had not passed away,” Gralenski said.

Volunteers from the SOLO wilderness school in Conway, as well as Upper Valley Search and Rescue, the AMC and conservation officers helped to bring Busher’s body off the mountain. They departed the Valley Way trail at 8:30 a.m. and were down by 3 p.m.

Conditions along the Presidential Range had changed quickly to winter-like weather, with “horizontal wind, rain and ice,” Gralenski said.

The incidents illustrate how quickly conditions in the White Mountains can change, he said.”

“"They’re in 60 mph winds, the temperature is in the 30s, visibility is less than 100 feet and there’s snow and rain and ice."

I've heard that's what it's like in JUNE.”

“Mt. Washington Observatory at 6:30AM put visibility at less than 50 feet. For the prior 24 hours the temperature range had been 24 - 38 degrees, and wind gusts had reached a high of 75 mph - so, if anything the article might have understated conditions.

Last year over labor day w/e, we had temps in the low 40s during the day with gusts up to around 60 and abysmal visibility (probably less than 50 feet up on the ridge).”

“It's definitely famous for WIND up there!”

“Tilt, I think they can have weather like that in any month of the year.

What a shame for the guy who died, sounds like an AT thruhiker...he might not have even gotten a good weather report, since he was on the trail.”

“What a transparent attempt to have a campsite in the Whites all to yourself this weekend. Shame on you Ped! Did you post this to all the backpacking bbs?”

“Belle and I tried to snowshoe up Mt. Adams(?) last Xmas holidays. We weren't half-way up when we were turned back by the piercing wind. Unimaginable what it must've been like above treeline...

Is it true that the highest windspeed ever recorded (300 mph?) was atop Washington?

These stories exemplify the hazardessnous of our fun little pastime...”

“Gojo: you were very wise to turn back. It would have been hellacious atop Adams.

The highest verified wind speed was atop Mt. Washington. It was 231 mph. There have been higher speeds recorded, but they were unverifiable. A few years back, New Hampshire was in an uproar when a weather station in the Phillipines recorded a higher speed - but since the recording device was blown away in the storm it was considered uncomfirmed. It is possible that the device recording the speed was damaged or moving against the wind when the speed was recorded.

In December through March, the average wind speeds are above 40 miles an hour.”

“It is my understanding that Washington and the presidential range are the highest points on a direct jet stream/storm track from the artic circle (that is . . .all that cold windy air comes howling out of Canada and isn't slowed down or blocked until it hits Mt. Washington.

I was in the SOuthern presidentials last weekend (Jackson, Pierce, Eisenhower) about 10 miles by trail from the Summit of Madison.

I have come over the top of Madison in 40-50 mph winds and ice/sleet/fog . . .wearing jeans no less (1989).

My friend from Colorado . . .who thought it was going to be a cakewalk (the white mountains . . .hahahaha they are only 5500 feet!!) was close to tears.

That was before trekking poles were popular, we had no stability on the icey rocks, and the wind was pushing us around. It was in our face the whole way down to the hut battering us as we staggered from cairn to cairn (which was tricky, you couldn't see the next one . . .but didn't want the advance ""scout" to get out of sight of the person remaining at the "known" cairn. He would wait, I would go ahead and wave when I thought I saw it, before I lost sight of him. COuld hear a thing, the wind was too loud, and it was battering and flapping our windjacket hoods against our faces . . .had to scream into each other ears from within a 2 foot range to be heard.\

Once at the hut (which was closed, this was the second weekend of October), we stood in the lee of it, just getting our hearing back . .then went into the woods on the Valley Way trail. The tent platforms are about .25 miles down the trail. The wind died off below tree line . . .the ice/sleet turned into mist . . and everything was damp and chilly . ..but no longer life threatening. The difference that quarter mile made was huge . . .all the difference inthe world.”

“Thanks for posting that Ped. I'll be making my 3rd visit to the Whites in a few weeks, and the weather never ceases to amaze me.

A good read for anybody interested in that area should check out "Not Without Peril - 150 Years of Misadventure on the Presidential Range of NH" by Nicholas Howe.”

“I saw an outrageous video of some guys up at the research station on the top playing around in the wind. One guy had a gallon jug of milk and was trying to pour it into a mug. Fat chance. Another guy was literally being blown head over foot across the patio. Just incredible.”

“In a 5 month time span in 2000, there were at least 6 fatal heart attacks among White Mtn. Hikers. Four of them were suffered by men 50 or under.

Accident Reports”

“It's a nice place to take the family for a picnic. Be sure to hear a hat. It can get breezy at times.”

“Great place for the stunt kite.”

“Lee, I was at Eisenhower, Pierce, Jackson a couple of days before you, 9/5. Would have been great to be able to spot a car. Wind on Eisenhower was about 50-55 mph gusts. Add some rain and drop the temp about 40 degrees would have taken a lot of the fun out of it.

Pennsy, When are you planning to be in the whites if you don't mind me asking?”

“hehehe
I typed "hear a hat"
WTF?
That was supposed to be "Wear a hat".”

“Pepsi - I'll be in the Whites from Oct 5-9 and then heading up to Baxter for Twigeater's Maine trip. I'll be camping in Crawford Notch.”

“For a snapshot of whats going on try this. Mount Washington Cam”