Professionals share insight into their jobs, as well as tips for preventing backcountry incidents
By Mike Lynch
Like the Adirondacks, New Hampshire’s White Mountains are a prime destination for hikers looking to explore wilderness peaks.
The Adirondack Park has 46 High Peaks, while the Whites have 48 mountains above 4,000 feet.
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Like in the Adirondack Park, Granite State hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts find themselves in need of assistance from time to time. As a result, professional and volunteer rescue crews are called.
In 2023, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department responded to 183 search-and-rescue missions, a typical year. It received another 132 calls for help that staff determined wasn’t an emergency and didn’t send personnel into the backcountry. Of those rescue missions, 66% were hiking-related (121 of the missions).
The Explorer visited New Hampshire in mid-July to research issues common to the two regions, and attended a search-and-rescue panel. Experts from the Mount Washington area discussed rescues in a conference hosted by the Appalachian Mountain Club at Joe Dodge Lodge.
The following comes from a transcript of the session that consisted of panelists from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Mount Washington Avalanche Center, Mount Washington Observatory weather station, New Hampshire Outdoor Council, Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue and Appalachian Mountain Club.
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During the discussion, the panelists offered insight into their jobs and advice for people looking to explore the backcountry. The transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Audience member question: How are you made aware that someone’s in need of help if there is no cell service in this region?
Lt. Mark W. Ober, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department: Surprisingly, there’s a lot of service. If someone needs something and they’re up there on a mountain with no cell service, but if they try 911, a lot of times they will connect. The other thing I’m noticing is a lot of people have Garmin devices with an SOS option, which is connected to a satellite. So we’re seeing more and more of that, too. But the other thing is, if they’re on a busy trail and they may not have service there, but another hiker comes upon them, they’ll travel and make a call. So it’s very rare that we never get calls .
Jeff Fongemie, director of Mount Washington Avalanche Center: It feels like we do a lot less searching now than we used to, because of the cell phone … Your phone will send (GPS) coordinates to 911 so you can tell where the person is.
Moderator Joe Roman, backcountry resource manager and search and rescue coordinator for the Appalachian Mountain Club: What are some of the challenges you face?
Ober: The biggest one I face … is determining if (phone call) is an actual emergency where we have to send people out or if it’s (a situation where) we can talk someone down. Or, just tell them this isn’t an emergency: I know you’re scared but … it’s a nice warm night. See you in the morning. But the biggest one is if it is an actual injury, where there is a carry-out, is getting enough people there … making sure we have enough people to help in this very arduous thing. That’s not going to put other rescuers in danger or of getting injured.
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Lt. James E. Kneeland, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department: I think my biggest stress is getting the help out there, which has gotten better over time with the increase in membership with the volunteer teams. I’m lucky to have the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team in Franconia Notch. I make the call now and sometimes get upwards of 20 or 30 people. So I think any carry-out over a mile, you’re going to need to have at least 18 to 20 folks on that rescue. So that’s the numbers you’re looking at getting. That’s not just four or five people.
RELATED READING: In some countries and states, hikers contribute to search and rescue costs. Should the Adirondacks do the same?
Audience member question: What’s an example of a situation where someone would make a call and you would say that it’s not really an emergency?
Ober: It sounds silly but you get this all the time: ‘I didn’t realize how hard this was. I’m here. I’m tired. Can you send someone to help me?’ It’s got to be a legitimate medical emergency (for us to respond.) Another big one that I’m not seeing as much now … is, ‘It’s after dark. I underestimated how long it would take me to do this hike. I’m not gonna be able to go after dark and I don’t have a flashlight.’ (Whether we respond is) weather dependent. If it’s a nice day, then yes, we’re not going to respond. You’re gonna spend the night on the side of the trail. But if it’s fall (or) winter and hypothermia is an option, we’re probably going to go.
Roman: I want to provide space for you all to talk about maybe some misunderstandings that the public has about search and rescues. What would you like them to know?
Fongemie: I would say the time involved for response. You can get a phone call, ‘Help, I’m in trouble.’ It’s taken them eight hours to get to where they are and now they need help. And they want you to be there in 15 minutes or so. No, we cannot be there in 15 minutes.
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Will Murphy, president of Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue: I guess that that’s probably the No. 1 thing. So I won’t repeat other than however long it took you to get there, it’ll take us at least that long to get there because we’re carrying our rescue gear. You might be a trail runner and carry nothing.
Audience member question: What would you say are the most critical things that hikers could do, especially in the colder months, to prevent themselves from getting into a situation where they have to rely on all you hard-working people?
Fongemie: To me, this feels like the most important thing: prior planning. Before you go to the field, know where you are going, have escape routes, planned turnaround times, look up the weather, know what to expect. Try not to be surprised by anything. You can go into the field with the 10 essentials and all those headlamps and all these things and extra water and extra food and nice things are pretty great too. But I think as a human, you’ve got to realize you’ve got to make decisions along the way and those little missteps can add up to bigger problems. Understand what 20 below Fahrenheit actually means in terms of your safety and your margin of error, just having a better understanding of the environment.
Jay Broccolo, director of weather operations for the Mount Washington Observatory: People need to read their higher summits forecast and check your ego at the door. Society has made life really nice, but the wild is still the wild. We have not tamed the wild yet. People need to understand that when they go out into the wild, and get injured, they’re not only putting themselves in danger, but they’re putting these guys in danger.
Chris Thayer, board of directors for New Hampshire Outdoor Council and AMC’s director of external affairs and contracts: Bring a flashlight, and not a (smart phone), but an actual flashlight (or) headlamp. Some sort of light source because inevitably, people bite off more than they can chew, and it’s usually darkness that catches them. So that’s just a critical piece. It seems looney at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning to throw in your flashlight, but you don’t know what the rest of the day is going to (bring).
Kneeland: The other thing I want to add is a paper map. More and more people are navigating with a trail app on their phone. And we all know if you’re using that and it’s working as a GPS, it’s draining the battery much more quickly, and that you need to have a paper map to refer to when it goes dead.
Audience member question: What is encouraging unprepared hikers to take on the wilderness?
Ober: I know: 4,000- footers, social media. It’s a goal to hit all the 4,000 footers. … People are trying too many (hiking) lists actually. There’s more than that, but that’s a big one. Know when to turn around. For example, last weekend, we had an individual who was dead set to make it to the summit and he could barely make it there. He made it, and that in turn meant he couldn’t make it back.
Murphy: The recognition that you’re always at risk in the wilderness is missing.
Roman: Are there any pieces of vital equipment that you suggest hikers bring with them that they might not readily think about?
Thayer: One is like a personal first aid kit. I don’t want to say I’m accident prone but I have used my kit more often than not on friends or family and other hikers that I’ve come across, so I just consider that as a really important baseline. The other one is a hat (for any) season.
Ober: Good quality hiking boots and a couple of ace bandages, not flip flops.
Broccolo: For those hiking alone, bring a friend. That helps with decision-making, and whenever you make a bad decision, there’s someone to check you.
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Interesting difference in rescues between the White Mountains and the Adirondacks is that the Whites have long established volunteer rescue groups that can undertake rescues with less ranger (land manager) involvement than the Adirondacks where nearly all rescues are composed almost entirely of NYS rangers.
This places a tremendous strain on the ranger force. The Whites and the Adirondacks have different outdoor cultures, successful and failed searches/rescues of decades ago have shaped the management policies of both areas.
This is hard work often done in wretched conditions by dedicated teams. Outdoor skills take time to learn and mistakes are better made on shorter or less demanding terrain.
This little handbook could help a lot of folks by preventing survival situations by educating them on “what they don’t know”. Wilderness 101: Knowledge, Skills, and Fundamentals for every adventurer. Published by Falcon Guides.
The lessons of outdoor adventuring gone wrong are described in several of John Krakauer’s books, particularly the part hubris plays in creating dangerous situations for others who must play the part of responsible adult.
I have wondered about whether it could be helpful to check folks in at the trailhead – are they equipped for the adventure they’re wanting to have without creating problems for rescue teams. Climbing high peaks in flip-flops should be a turnaround at the door, at the very least.