Alpine touring numbers climb at Maine ski areas
Only time will tell if the trend translates into more backcountry skiers in remote wilderness areas.
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Dan Elliott of Rumford uses Alpine touring equipment to travel up Rumford Whitecap before skiing down. Backcountry skiing has been growing in popularity, but skiers must be versed in wilderness survival skills and know how to survive in avalanche country.
Dan Elliott photo
More skiers are embracing uphill travel, also called Alpine touring, at Maine ski resorts – and more ski areas are catering to those who opt to hike up instead of take the chairlifts.
Mount Washington Avalanche Center warns of hidden dangers of back country skiing
In this Wednesday, May 6, 2015 photo, Charlie Carr of Bristol leads his friend Andy Bell of Thornton up The Sluice, a slope with a 50-degree pitch on Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington. There are no lifts at Tuckerman Ravine; to ski it you have to climb it. Robert F. Bukaty
FILE - In this March 10, 2015, file photo, Greg George, of Macon, Ga., skis the Lobster Claw, a steep ski route in Tuckerman Ravine on New Hampshire s Mount Washington. Skiers have been hiking up to ski the Northeast s tallest peak for nearly 100 years. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File) Robert F. Bukaty
Brookline man rescued after falling on steep, icy slope in White Mountains boston.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from boston.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
GORHAM â A 63-year-old Brookline, Mass., man was reported missing to U.S. Forest Service personnel at 11:00 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 20, when he failed to return from a summit hike. Avalanche danger on Saturday was listed as moderate with the possibility of an increase in danger to considerable overnight.
Mount Washington Valley Ski Patrol found him on Sunday at approximately 2:45 a.m. on a steep, icy slope above an area known as Lunch Rocks in Tuckerman Ravine.
The subject of the search had taken a long, sliding fall down Right Gully after taking a wrong turn off Lion Head Trail. The microspikes he wore on his mountaineering boots didnât provide adequate traction during his descent, and he suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the fall.
Officials from the Mount Washington Avalanche Center are warning about the potential for avalanches in the White Mountains. February has already been the deadliest month in a decade for avalanches across the United States. One of those deaths occurred in New Hampshire, and officials hope new information about how it happened will help others. Sign up for our Newsletters Rescuers say Ian Forgays of Vermont was found dead in an avalanche debris.