Anyone with info on hiker death Mt. Eisenhower, White Mtns?
David Kosicki
> Anybody got any of the details on Nick Halpern's death on Eisenhower
>this past Tuesday (2/27)?
>--
This is a copy of the article posted in the 2/28 edition of the Boston
Globe.
CRAWFORD NOTCH, N.H. - Nicholas Halpern of Lincoln, Mass., wanted so
badly to reach the peak of Mount Eisenhower that he died in this
winter's fiercest winds trying to make it.
Shortly before sunset yesterday, weary rescuers followed a
solitary set of footprints in heavy snow to the Boston lawyer's body.
An experienced hiker, Halpern, 50, a tax attorney, had been
forced off the mountain with a friend the weekend before by a
snowstorm. This past Sunday, Halpern set out again - this time alone -
after parking his old Ford LTD Crown Victoria in the lot of a hostel
here. He didn't sign in and may not have seen the weather memo
posted inside that warned hikers of icy winds gusting to 125 m.p.h.
``The wind was hellacious,'' said Michael Hardert, supervisor of
Expert Mountain Guides in North Conway.
Halpern either ignored or did not know a common rule of survival
in the White Mountains: If winds exceed 70 m.p.h., get off the
mountain.
Temperatures Sunday were about 20 degrees and snow reached total
whiteout conditions at times.
Halpern's body was found yesterday by Androscoggin Valley Search
and Rescue volunteers in the bed of a brook less than a quarter-mile
from the trail he was taking to the top.
Search and rescue workers struggled in darkness through heavy
drifts last night to bring the body down on a litter.
A Chicago native, Halpern graduated from the University of
Minnesota and Yale University Law School. He was admitted to the
Massachusetts Bar in 1985.
He was an associate with Nutter, McClennen &Fish,of Boston, where
he had worked since 1992.
``We are deeply saddened to hear of the loss of our cherished
colleague,'' said Michael Mooney, managing partner of the firm. ``He
will be greatly missed by all of us.''
The memo about wind speed posted inside the hostel proved to be a
conservative estimate: On Sunday, wind gusts on the Presidential Range
reached 145 m.p.h. - the harshest of the season - at 4:05 p.m. ``You
could hear the howl,'' said Kevin Hawk Metheny, one of the searchers.
Gauges at the Mount Washington Observatory registered 10 hours
straight of winds of more than 100 m.p.h.
Seven other winter hikers set off from Crawford Notch on Sunday
morning, but all of them turned back. But Halpern went on alone.
``There were high drifts and blowdowns all the way up,'' said
Metheny, a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club who was one of 30
workers who participated in search and rescue efforts.
Halpern's wife first called state police about midnight on Sunday
to report that her husband had not returned. Police called the
Department of Transportation, who searched the parking lot at Crawford
Notch but didn't see Halpern's white car in the blinding snow. They
called his wife and told her the car was gone. Reassured, she
figured he had made it out and was on his way home.
But at 5 a.m., he still was not home. She called the Crawford
Notch Hostel caretaker, Zaz Brelsford, but Brelsford was asleep and
didn't hear the phone. At 6 a.m. she called again and Brelsford told
her that the car was still in the parking lot. They immediately knew
that something was seriously wrong.
``It's frustrating and sad to have it end this way,'' said
Brelsford, who said Halpern's was the third death in the White
Mountains this winter. ``Every time it happens, in a way it's a
lesson, but then it always happens again.''
Yesterday morning, a National Guard helicopter dropped two rescue
crews near the 4,761-foot peak. They and three other crews searched a
15-square-mile radius of trails and brooks drainages all day, until
the footprints were spotted in the snow at about 4:30. There was
cautious hope that Halpern might be alive struggling to get out. But
by 5:30 those hopes had ended.
In a statement issued last night, Halpern's wife, Betsy Halpern,
said her husband ``was truly one of the most decent and kind men I've
ever known. Obviously, this is a terrible time for our family, and we
hope everyone will respect our privacy.''
In Lincoln yesterday, Ellen Sisco, a reference librarian at the
Lincoln Public Library, said she had known Halpern casually for more
than 14 years.
``He is a familiar face around the library as he is a reader and
his wife, Betsy, runs some special programs for us,'' Sisco said.
Fish and Game Lt. Eric Stohl said there were tracks above the
tree line and that Halpern might have made the top of Mount
Eisenhower. ``We'll never know for sure,'' he said.''
Eugene Levine
Apparently Halpern had tried the hike the preceding week, didn't make it,
got determined, returned this past weekend and climbed up from Crawford
Notch.
The weather was bad and deteriorating, and recorded winds
ultimately exceeded 145 mph! It was also cold (and wind chill was
dangerous). In snow, visibility went to zero at the base. He apparently
did not sign in, and when he didn't return on time, his wife called the
hostel to inquire.
In the whiteout the person answering her call didn't see that the car was
still in the lot, so they assumed he was down and gone. When he didn't
return home by 5AM the next morning, his wife called again; this time
they saw the car, knew something was wrong and began search and rescue.
They found his body that day (Monday?).
All of the above is from the Globe story. An investigation is planned.
Philip Lussier (Mohawk Trail RHS) (plus...@k12.oit.umass.edu) wrote:
: Anybody got any of the details on Nick Halpern's death on Eisenhower
: this past Tuesday (2/27)?
: --
--
gene levine
ele...@world.std.com
http://world.std.com/~elevine/
Andy Hiltz
>plus...@k12.oit.umass.edu (Philip Lussier (Mohawk Trail RHS)) wrote:
>
>> Anybody got any of the details on Nick Halpern's death on Eisenhower
>>this past Tuesday (2/27)?
This