Mother, daughter rescued from White Mountains during whiteout conditions
The hikers said they would not have survived the night in the freezing and snowy weather.
A mother and daughter were rescued Thursday afternoon after finding themselves blinded by whiteout conditions on a peak in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, officials said.
Catherine Courtemanche, 24, and Nathalie Beaudet, 54, credited rescuers with saving their lives and said they would not have survived the night in the freezing and snowy weather, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in a statement.
The pair called 911 at 3:15 p.m., about an hour before sunset, from atop Mount Lafayette in Franconia, N.H., and said they were unable to locate the trail to descend because of high winds and whiteout conditions, the department said.
The hikers had searched for the Greenleaf Trail for about an hour with visibility of only a few feet before taking shelter behind some rocks. At 4:10 p.m., a rescue mission was launched and conservation officers from the Fish and Game Department, along with volunteers from the Mountain Rescue Service, departed around 6 p.m. to hike the 4 miles to the summit, the department said.
The forecast called for 60-mile-per-hour winds, temperatures in the mid-teens, and limited visibility through the night. While the rescuers were hiking to reach the women, the pair began to experience early signs of hypothermia, the statement said.
At 9:30 p.m., rescuers reached the women and they all descended the mountain through 40- to 60-mile-per-hour winds and snow, using GPS to help find their way. They arrived safely back at the trailhead at 11:30 p.m.
Courtemanche and Beaudet, from Sherbrooke, Quebec, had started their hike at 9 a.m. Thursday with the intention of hiking a trail loop they had done many times before. They were well equipped with winter clothes and equipment but lacked the navigational tools that would have helped during the whiteout, according to the statement.
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