ANDOVER, Mass. — A Massachusetts hiker has died after he became severely hypothermic while climbing Mount Washington in New Hampshire, authorities said.
A local hiker who was suffering from severe hypothermia on a New Hampshire trail died at a hospital hours after rescuers battled treacherous conditions to reach him. https://t.co/u31rQFmkoe
— Boston 25 News (@boston25) June 20, 2022
According to WFXT, Xi Chen, 53, of Andover, died after rescue crews found him on the Gulfside Trail late Saturday, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said.
Chen’s wife told WFXT that her husband, an experienced hiker, had been headed to the Lakes of the Clouds Hut at the mountain top. But the weather – which included strong winds, rain and snow – continued to worsen, Fish and Wildlife Lt. Bob Mancini Jr. said.
“Mount Washington is historically known to be one of the worst weather locations in the entire world,” Mancini told WFXT, adding that the mountain experienced sustained winds of 50 to 60 mph and gusts of more than 80 mph on Saturday.
Chen sent a text message to his wife saying he was worried about hypothermia, WFXT reported. His messages later became increasingly ominous.
“If I stop moving, then I’m in trouble,” he wrote at one point, according to WFXT. “In trouble can’t move,” he added in one of his final messages that evening.
No one answered Chen’s phone when his wife, alarmed, tried to call, the news station reported. She said she then called 911.
By the time crews, who were busy with numerous other weather-related rescues, reached Chen, he was unresponsive, Mancini told WFXT.
Rescuers carried Chen to a truck at the mountain’s summit, which was more than a mile away, the station reported. They then drove Chen to an ambulance at the base, where they arrived about seven hours after receiving the 911 call, officials said.
The ambulance took Chen to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead after “life-saving efforts were attempted for several hours,” according to the Fish and Game news release.
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