Mt Washington State Park, Monday May 14, 2012

Mt Jefferson

The end of last week saw the summit slip back into winter. There was a definite snowline visible starting at 4,000′. There was only 2″ of new snow but 4″ of rime ice and winds gusting above 75mph.

Iced over truck

Buildings and vehicles quickly iced over and a plow truck was needed to re-open the upper 2 miles of the auto road due to snow drifts.

Marty our summit Mascot took this short slip back into winter in stride. He preferred to play on a ledge near post office rather than going outside this morning.

Over the weekend Search & Rescue teams attended trainings to refresh their rescue skills. At Cannon Mountain Ski Area in Franconia Notch State Park teams learned about swift water rescue and up close looks at NH Air National Guard’s UH-60A Black Hawk Medical Rescue Helicopter.

NHNAG Black Hawk
Black Hawk Cockpit
Controls of Black Hawk
Hoist & Operator

In Gorham our Firefighter level II class practiced high angle and patient packaging and carrying skills.

FF 2 SAR Exercise
MJ High Angle
Litter Packaging

While we wish that we would never need our backcountry search & rescue team skills or the services of the National Guard, the reality is that needs for search and rescue services are not going away. Accidents can happen to even the best prepared outdoor enthusiast. It’s the needless incidents that could be avoided through proper planning and common sense we hope can be avoided by simply reviewing basic hiking information found on NH Fish & Games Hike Safe site.

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Mike Pelchat, Manager of Mt. Washington State Park

I've been working atop Mt Washington for past 30 years so you can guess I like it above the tree line! After all these years I still never tire of the beauty of our NH White Mtns and consider my employment an extreme honor and privilege to work for the State Of NH and serve its visitors. When not on the summit you can find me enjoying the rock & ice climbing one of the many beautiful granite cliffs we have in Franconia, Crawford or Echo Lake State Parks. I have taken these climbing skills learned at our NH State Parks to climb in Alaska, Andes, Canadian Arctic and Himalayas. I live in Gorham NH with my wife Diane Holmes.

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