Chocurua rescue

[egilbe]

https://www.unionleader.com/news/sa...8-5551-9fcc-c82cbcc6dc63.html?block_id=998119

6 out of 7 in a group of hikers needed rescuing. The 7th apparently went to get help, or left the 6 to die. If it wasn't so damn cold, I would chalk it up to summit fever.

 

[peakbagger]

My guess is there is more to the story. The Bolles trail is a lesser used but to someone in a rush to get get back to Champney Fall parking its easy to misread the maps and think its a shortcut by taking Beeline. Its far less exposed than going back the way they came up which on a cold and windy day is a big factor. Many folks dont realize that micro spikes work better going up hill than down so that may have factored in. They dont realize that the Beeline ends up on the south side of the ridge and requires a long climb back up to get back to Champney Falls trail. The trail back to Champney Falls trail is lesser used. Bolles is in a north south valley, the sun sets a lot quicker once they drop down into it and expect the group lacked proper cold weather gear for the conditions.

 

[ChrisB]

My guess is there is more to the story. The Bolles trail is a lesser used but to someone in a rush to get get back to Champney Fall parking its easy to misread the maps and think its a shortcut by taking Beeline. Its far less exposed than going back the way they came up which on a cold and windy day is a big factor. Many folks dont realize that micro spikes work better going up hill than down so that may have factored in. They dont realize that the Beeline ends up on the south side of the ridge and requires a long climb back up to get back to Champney Falls trail. The trail back to Champney Falls trail is lesser used. Bolles is in a north south valley, the sun sets a lot quicker once they drop down into it and expect the group lacked proper cold weather gear for the conditions.

Agree. It would be very difficult to take the Beeline by accident.

The Bolles loop back would have been significantly longer than going back down Champney Falls. Post-summit take the West Side cut off back to the Bolles to minimize exposure.

The top of Beeline is REALLY steep and exposed as it descends over many long and wide-open slabs. Gotta be a thrill in icy conditions wearing microspikes.

Glad they are all home free.

 

[Mike P.]

The link above required a sign on but I was able to find it elsewhere.

Sounds like they had a late start or at least a late summit time. Here is an interesting two paragraphs:

"Rescue crews met the six remaining hikers along the Bolles Trail. The hikers were from Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico and Vermont. The group ranged in age from 23 to 33 years old, according to the news release.

The hikers were treated for hypothermia and provided transportation a little over 20 miles around the mountain to their vehicles."

Family and friends? (Any Covid restrictions based on state of residence?) Had any of them been to Chocurua before? Guessing no or maybe one person had and suggested it.

While VFTTer's know that this sub 4K peak looks like a 4K peak, has a bare summit like higher peaks and the elevation gain for Chocurua is greater than the easier 4k peaks. I did it once and it's a nice summit but coming from CT, for the work involved and exposure, I'd rather do Pierce (again and again) Jackson, Osceola or Tecumseh. (in winter, the ascent of Osceola over East Osceola makes it much harder but the Tripoli road ascent is easier. If I wanted a good view and not the work or exposure of the larger peaks, I'd opt for Potash in the Chocorua area or Middle Sugarloaf, even with the road walk. (or Kearsarge North, however that's also a bigger climb of over 2500 feet.)

While this weekend's wind wasn't as bad as last weekend, the air temp was pretty similar.

 

[egilbe]

Chocurua is the only summit I've been on that I wish I had an ice axe on the descent. I need to hike it sometime when it's not covered in Ice and snow, but I thought coming down off the summit, you go either right or left. Right takes you to Champney Falls

 

[JustJoe]

I'm a bit confused by this. It says they took a wrong turn on Beeline but do not mention the initial mistake of taking the Brook Trail to Beeline. It the upper section of Brook that is very dangerous this time of year. Beeline is fairly tame. So did they head towards the Liberty Trail end of Bolles?

 

[jniehof]

Any Covid restrictions based on state of residence?

The woman from Los Alamos appears to have an MIT affiliation. (The only connection I have is that I've probably been in the swimming pool at the same time as her.) My guess is grad students taking a weekend out...it's why I'm here! So no restrictions to go to NH, but would be restrictions to go back to Mass.

 

[nartreb]

The woman from Los Alamos appears to have an MIT affiliation. (The only connection I have is that I've probably been in the swimming pool at the same time as her.) My guess is grad students taking a weekend out...it's why I'm here! So no restrictions to go to NH, but would be restrictions to go back to Mass.

The "restriction" is that you promise to self-isolate for ten days upon return to massachusetts, or until you have the negative result of a covid test . There's no enforcement whatsoever, but if caught violating quarantine you would face a fine of $500 per day.

Towns near me in Massachusetts offer free covid screening for residents, but scheduling is easier some places than others (e.g, no testing on weekends in some towns). I know folks who've used the drive-in, no-appointment-needed free testing center in a nearby town -- nobody checked their address. Private urgent care centers will do it for around $100 cash, scheduling not great -- you can sign up but when they'll actually see you is another story. Insurance will only pay if it's "medically necessary" -- so you can forget about that.

 

[JoshandBaron]

Insurance will only pay if it's "medically necessary" -- so you can forget about that.

If you have a negative covid test from within 72 hours of your return to the state, you don't need to quarantine. Get tested Thursday, come back Sunday, all gravy. Pretty much every CVS with a drive thru is doing testing. You can fill out the screening application online. Neither I nor my partner have had any out of pocket costs for those tests. It's obvious how you should answer the screening questions if you have any doubt of your eligibility but any normal human being living in winter can answer honestly and qualify. Current turn around is less than 24 hours.

 

[peakbagger]

Unless someone comes up that following Covid restrictions in the field were a potential cause of the rescue, its probably best to keep focused on the rescue then diverge onto the dead end track that is the Covid restrictions debate .

 

[skiguy]

My guess is there is more to the story. The Bolles trail is a lesser used but to someone in a rush to get get back to Champney Fall parking its easy to misread the maps and think its a shortcut by taking Beeline. Its far less exposed than going back the way they came up which on a cold and windy day is a big factor. Many folks dont realize that micro spikes work better going up hill than down so that may have factored in. They dont realize that the Beeline ends up on the south side of the ridge and requires a long climb back up to get back to Champney Falls trail. The trail back to Champney Falls trail is lesser used. Bolles is in a north south valley, the sun sets a lot quicker once they drop down into it and expect the group lacked proper cold weather gear for the conditions.

I would concur with all of the above. The first time I did the Bolles from the Kanc I was surprised how far too the South of the height of land it was to the Beeline. So much I studied the map a lot closer once heading downhill from the Col to be sure I hadn’t missed the Beeline. Also as already stated there is some good vertical to the Summit still. If this is where they landed up I could see it being quite epic.

 

[maineguy]

My guess is there is more to the story. The Bolles trail is a lesser used but to someone in a rush to get get back to Champney Fall parking its easy to misread the maps and think its a shortcut by taking Beeline. Its far less exposed than going back the way they came up which on a cold and windy day is a big factor. Many folks dont realize that micro spikes work better going up hill than down so that may have factored in. They dont realize that the Beeline ends up on the south side of the ridge and requires a long climb back up to get back to Champney Falls trail. The trail back to Champney Falls trail is lesser used. Bolles is in a north south valley, the sun sets a lot quicker once they drop down into it and expect the group lacked proper cold weather gear for the conditions.

I don't understand. The Champney Falls Trail intersects neither the Brook nor the Bee Line Trails. And the Bolles Trail is nowhere near the Champney Falls Trail, except near the parking lot. How could anyone looking at a map think it would be shorter than just going back down the way they came? Now, if they were trying to follow the Brook Trail to the West Side Trail, then back to Champney Falls Trail, that might make sense.