PINKHAM NOTCH, New Hampshire — Two hikers and a skier suffered injuries during an avalanche in Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington on Sunday.
One of the two climbers, identified as Michel Houde from Lorraine, Quebec, was treated and then released by White Mountain Snow Ranger staff and the Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol. Skier Kaj Huld of Brunswick, Maine, also suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
Members of several nearby avalanche classes assisted in transporting the second climber, whose name was not released, by litter to Hermit Lake. There he was taken by snowmobile to Gorham EMS, waiting in Pinkham Notch, and on to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin.
“He was pulled out of the rubble and carried down,” said Chad Miller, Gorham EMS director.
According to Tiffany Benna, public services staff officer with the White Mountain National Forest Service, the two climbers ascended a narrow gully on the left side of Tuckerman Ravine just before 1 p.m. Sunday, the narrow point of the slope after climbing several hundred vertical feet from the floor of the ravine. The pair climbed over an old fracture line 1- to 1½ feet high and continued into softer snow.
According to Benna, after ascending approximately 30 more feet through deeper snow, the climber in front felt that the slope might be unstable and decided to turn around. As the pair turned to descend, the slope fractured about 75 to 100 feet above them, with an area of snow approximately 75 to 100 feet wide breaking free and falling. The two climbers were carried most of the distance to the ravine floor by the tumbling snow.
Four skiers and an avalanche class were nearby at the time. Two of the nearby skiers also were caught and carried varying distances by the snow and rocks; another skier below was able to dodge the debris.
The Mount Washington Observatory reported 5.5 inches of snow on the summit on Saturday, with around 4 inches falling at Hermit Lake. Summit winds blew between 40 and 60 mph overnight from the west. According to Benna, plumes of wind-blown snow were visible in the morning as snow rangers made snowpack assessments. The wind shifted to the northwest and diminished to 20 mph when visitors began to enter Tuckerman Ravine.
“There’s not a lot of snow up there right now, but what is there was blowing around,” said Miller. “This time of year you expect it to be deeper.”
The White Mountain National Forest Service operates the Mount Washington Avalanche Center, which posted a general bulletin Saturday morning on www.mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org for the holiday weekend. General bulletins are issued when isolated areas of unstable snow may exist.
On March 1, 2013, information provided by the avalanche center states a solo ice climber died as the result of injuries suffered in an avalanche in Pinnacle Gully.
An avalanche on Jan. 1, 2013, in Central Gully in Huntington Ravine swept three climbers over the edge. They survived, but were injured.
According to the avalanche center, a hiker was killed on April 1, 2012, in Tuckerman Ravine when he fell on icy terrain and slid into a crevasse in the lower portion of the bowl.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.