Two skiers have been rescued after becoming stranded in waist-deep snow and blizzard-like conditions on Mount Moosilauke in New Hampshire, with only 2 per cent of their mobile phone battery remaining.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department was alerted on Saturday afternoon to the two skiers, later identified as Massachusetts residents Romain Tronchi, 30, and Gabriel Mahe, 32. They had lost the trail due to high winds and low visibility, according to the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team, and had no equipment to continue.
Rescue officials used snowmobiles to travel four miles up the mountain, then hiked a further mile and a half through deep snow and thick trees. The men were found around 11 p.m., and were guided back to the trail before hiking back to the snowmobiles.
“The conditions and terrain made for slow travel getting the lost skiers back to the trail, but once on the trail rescuers and rescuers were able to hike out to the snowmobiles and returned safely to the trailhead by 2 a.m.,” the rescue team said in a statement.
The incident follows the death of a skier in April who went off-trail at the nearby Black Mountain Ski Area. Eric Page, 39, was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead despite life-saving efforts.
