Skier critically injured in avalanche on New Hampshire's Mount Washington
LEBANON, N.H. – A New Hampshire skier suffered life-threatening injuries after he was trapped in an avalanche.
It happened Saturday around 11:35 a.m.
The 30-year-old from Bow, N.H. was skiing down "Airplane Gully" on Mount Washington when he triggered the avalanche.
The man's friend and a Good Samaritan skied over to help. No one else was hurt or trapped.
While rescuers developed a plan to reach the injured man, dispatchers gave treatment instructions to the two people who were with him.
The other two skiers also shoveled an area near the man so rescuers would be able to have enough space to load and hoist the man into a helicopter when it arrived.
A National Guard helicopter found the skiers around 3:20 p.m. He was loaded into the helicopter a short time later.
The injured man was flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon for treatment. New Hampshire Fish and Game said the man had a life-threatening lower leg injury.