Ice conditions, frigid cold hamper Mount Major rescue efforts

ALTON — State and local rescue personnel battled below-zero wind chills and extremely icy conditions to rescue two injured hikers on Mount Major.

One hiker, identified by the Alton Fire Department only as a man in his 20s, suffered a head injury when he slipped on the icy trail about halfway up the 1,785 foot high mountain Saturday, and fell nearly 200 feet down an extremely steep slope, suffering a severe head injury, Fire Chief Jim Beaudoin said.

Rescue crews needed to use crampon-style cleats on their boots because of the heavy ice conditions. In addition they had to deal with extreme cold, with temperatures around 18 degrees and wind gusts up to 40 mph, making it feel like 4-below zero.

A utility terrain vehicle was brought to the scene to help get the hiker off the mountain, but it was only able to make it halfway to where the injured hiker was, Beaudoin said.

When rescuers reached the man they placed him in a Stokes basket stretcher and carried him down 600 feet of icy terrain to the waiting UTV. As he continued to show symptoms of a severe head injury an air ambulance was dispatched to the scene. After being stabilized in an ambulance at the foot of the mountain he was placed in a DHART helicopter and airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.

While preparing to carry out the initial rescue, a woman hiker suffered a hip or leg injury when she slipped on another trail. Officers from state Fish and Game reached to woman and were able to assist her down the mountain.

Personnel and equipment from the Barnstead and Gilford fire departments assisted at the scene, and Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid provided command assistance.