Yet another mountain "rescue"

This story kind of gets lost because of the tragedy that happened at Franconia Notch over the weekend but according to the ConMonOn, a lone hiker decided to hike up the Mt Washington Auto Road last Monday night. (Which is unusal because we're still discussing in another thread if that route would "count" towards a list ) He started up at 9:30pm and was "rescued" three and a half hours later, at 1am, and taken off the road after hiking up about three miles. The NHF&G officer at the scene said "He was alone and, though dressed warmly, he did not have any gear..."

This is an amazing story on so many levels. First of all, this guy couldnt have been what we would consider to be a hiker - he had NO gear! Nothing! And it's winter on Mt Washington!! And if you think about the timing, the rescue could conceivably been phoned in BEFORE he actually started the hike!

Reading into the news report I can see some warning lights flashing here, perhaps suggesting that the hiker may have been unstable to some degree. Let's face it, his actions were not one of a logical person (and my sympathies if that's the case). But that aside, this is the perfect example of when a hiker should be charged for rescue efforts, which F&G is "considering" doing.

Read....

http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=98755042-da43-4c27-90b0-72401d851d05


bob

I tend to agree with you, but did he need to be rescued? He was not in peril (yet). He wasn't lost (yet).

These decisions are tough. Sounds more like a prevented suicide than a mountain rescue.

Sounds like the guy has some issues in his life. This one is not very black/white as many others can be. Who knows what's really going on but it sounds like he just wanted to go for a walk and a think - but choosing to walk into some gnarly conditions.
I don't really know his story or why he chose to walk there so I'm refraining from judging any further.

cbcbd said:

Sounds like the guy has some issues in his life. This one is not very black/white as many others can be. Who knows what's really going on but it sounds like he just wanted to go for a walk and a think - but choosing to walk into some gnarly conditions.
I don't really know his story or why he chose to walk there so I'm refraining from judging any further.

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Ditto on that! This is a new one.

Speaking of the unknown and possible suicide, whatever happened to this story? Did they ever find this guy? Any followup stories?

http://vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=18409&page=1&pp=15

He could be in Dubai by now.

I don't know enough, all we can do is speculate. If it was me I'd be POd but I would have had a day pack with stuff in it.

Little Rickie said:

I don't know enough, all we can do is speculate. If it was me I'd be POd but I would have had a day pack with stuff in it.

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yes, but, remember you are on a hiking board. I think everyone would have. This person may not be too familiar with the outdoors. he got PO'd, went for a walk up a hill, not really knowing much about where he was going. Maybe he was going to throw himself off a cliff. Maybe he was liking what he was seeing, and kept going when he turned around.

Lots of mysteries on this one.

We seem to agree that we shouldn't speculate without knowing the hikers state of mind but I think that either way, this rescue is a situation in which the hiker should be billed for rescue services.

If he called the rescue in himself I could see a better case for charging him. Sounds like he wasn't looking to be rescued but his worried family wanted to make sure he was safe. Maybe the family called prematurely? Obviously they know him better than we can ever know but did he ask them to call?

dug said:

I tend to agree with you, but did he need to be rescued? He was not in peril (yet). He wasn't lost (yet).

These decisions are tough. Sounds more like a prevented suicide than a mountain rescue.

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The family reported him missing and presumably wanted him to be found. They quite possibly offered other information that affected the decision. There is always more to these incidents than meets the eye and makes the news.

This was a sensible quick action that may have headed off a real search & rescue that could have imperiled SAR lives. It was night, it was cold, and SAR troops were already involved over in Franconia, etc. Why stretch them any thinner and exhaust them further? If another call had come in that night for a lost person, best to have some fresh personnel ready to go out and save us.

These decisions are not made lightly, and they're made by people who have tons of experience and knowledge. They're not infallible but they almost always know when to go into action and when to hang back and wait it out.

My understanding from talking to S&R officials is that this is not the first time this individual has been "rescued" from the Auto Road, and that there are definitely other issues involved that I am not at liberty to discuss. He was tracked down a couple of miles up the Auto Road, still below treeline, by state park and F&G personnel ascending via the state's sno-cat. This was definitely not your typical hiker rescue.

Waumbek said:

The family reported him missing and presumably wanted him to be found. They quite possibly offered other information that affected the decision. There is always more to these incidents than meets the eye and makes the news.

This was a sensible quick action that may have headed off a real search & rescue that could have imperiled SAR lives. It was night, it was cold, and SAR troops were already involved over in Franconia, etc. Why stretch them any thinner and exhaust them further? If another call had come in that night for a lost person, best to have some fresh personnel ready to go out and save us.

These decisions are not made lightly, and they're made by people who have tons of experience and knowledge. They're not infallible but they almost always know when to go into action and when to hang back and wait it out.

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I don't disagree. It just seems to me this is more like talking a jumper off a bridge than the typical "they are in over their head//injured hiker" rescue. I really don't want to comment if he should be charged or not, since that is such a grey area and getting a straight answer on "negligence" is difficult. I commend S&R as always for their efforts. I am sure they saved his life. However, I still don't know if he needed to be rescued, but once the family called them in I don't see where they had a choice.

Something that many people might not know is that NH Fish and Game gets involved in many of these incidents annually. Many SAR missions are in locations you would not imagine to find conservation officers -- maybe your neighborhood, for one -- and lots of them have nothing to do with recreationists. When the Fish and Game budget is discussed, it's worth remembering.

sardog1 said:

Something that many people might not know is that NH Fish and Game gets involved in many of these incidents annually. Many SAR missions are in locations you would not imagine to find conservation officers -- maybe your neighborhood, for one -- and lots of them have nothing to do with recreationists. When the Fish and Game budget is discussed, it's worth remembering.

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Quite true. Even down in Southern NH, I've seen them assisting where needed, but never gave it much thought

dentonfabrics said:

We seem to agree that we shouldn't speculate without knowing the hikers state of mind but I think that either way, this rescue is a situation in which the hiker should be billed for rescue services.

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Still not knowing all the details to say for sure but if it was me and I was talked into being "rescued" when I didn't want or need to be I wouldn't pay. I'd also be POd if forced to pay.

Pamola said:

Speaking of the unknown and possible suicide, whatever happened to this story? Did they ever find this guy? Any followup stories?

http://vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=18409&page=1&pp=15

He could be in Dubai by now.

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His business partner sued him in court for the money he stole, he has 30 days to refute the charges or he automatically loses. No one around here believes for a second he went to 'off' himself, he wasn't the type. Everyone thinks he took the money and ran with it, the note in the Whites was just a smokescreen to give him more time to disappear. That's the word around here from his friends and colleagues, I didn't know the man personally. He worked in my town and I work in his town, as well as with a former classmate of his.

4Khiker said:

My understanding from talking to S&R officials is that this is not the first time this individual has been "rescued" from the Auto Road, and that there are definitely other issues involved that I am not at liberty to discuss. He was tracked down a couple of miles up the Auto Road, still below treeline, by state park and F&G personnel ascending via the state's sno-cat. This was definitely not your typical hiker rescue.

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You might walk into the woods for some "peace and solitude" but you don't walk to the top of Mt. Washington at night in the middle of winter expecting peace. I agree that this doesn't sound like a missing hiker story, but more like someone in crisis who purposely decided to do something dramatic and dangerous to get his family's attention. The fact that he was dressed warmly and his wife knew to call for help suggests to me that he didn't really want to die. Its interesting that this is not the first time he has done this.