A man died on Thursday afternoon in an avalanche near Mount Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine on Thursday afternoon. The officials have not revealed the identity of the man and his information.
At 4 pm, Evan Burks, public and legislative affairs officer for the Forest Service, declared the man dead. He stated that the avalanche had occurred closer to the area known as Raymond Cataract.
Burks also said that the snow rangers noticed one set of ski tracks going into the avalanche area but no tracks going out. The snow rangers dug out the man at about 2.20 pm.
The rescuers performed CPR as they transported him to the foot of the mountain. The first responders had declared him dead.
The White Mountain Avalanche Centre had described the avalanche danger to be “Moderate”.
Rick Wilcox, a longtime Mount Washington climbing guide, said that Raymond Cataract is prone to avalanches in heavy snow year like this one.
Raymond Cataract is a very narrow ravine. It is not prone to avalanches unless it experiences a major snow year like this one, he said.
“People have to be dug up immediately by the people on the scene,” he said. “To call in a team (MRS) from North Conway takes hours. We don’t go looking for live people. Whatever happened today, the people on the mountain dealt with it.” He described ‘time’ to be one of the most important things during avalanches.
Mike Cherim of Redline guiding in Intervale said that the people needed to wait until spring on Mount Washington to really get into skiing and also be careful.