By Curt Peterson
On Saturday, Jan. 11, six Killington Search and Rescue (KSAR) volunteers found a lost hiker deep in the snowy forest. It may have been the luckiest and unluckiest day of his life.
According to Killington Police Chief Whit Montgomery, the call citing a lost hiker needing rescue came from the Vermont State Police at 5 p.m., including an approximate location — 1.6 miles south of Killington Peak. The sun had set at 4:36 p.m. It was dark and cold. Weather Underground reported the temperature at the start of the rescue was 19F ° and decreased through the night.
Chief Montgomery gathered the KSAR team immediately, and, after the chief’s briefing and some location help from the Killington Resort ski patrolman Ian Smith, the crew went as far as they could on resort-provided vehicles, then set off on snowshoes at 7:15 p.m. bushwhacking part of the way.
Two hours later, at 9:15 p.m. they finally came upon the hiker.
KSAR snowshoed to the rescue.
“He was found sitting on his backpack with his sleeping bag over his head,” Montgomery said. “He was shaking violently. He was verbal, but it was low-level mumbling.”
He was showing symptoms of early hypothermia, so the volunteers gave him hot drinks, additional layers of clothing, and snacks. His mental and physical conditions reacted positively very quickly.
Meanwhile, a second KSAR crew of six arrived, and helped get the much-improved hiker to the resort vehicle back up at the peak, and then to the Public Service Building, where the chief was able to debrief him about his misadventure.
He’d left Cold River Road in Shrewsbury at 9 a.m. and had hoped to reach Killington Peak or Route 4 by dark. The trail became elusive, and he found himself chest-deep in the snow and lost. He thought he could use the GPS function on his phone to see where he was relative to his destination, but dropped the phone in the snow and couldn’t find it again.
Luckily, he was wearing a Garmin and activated it to send an S.O.S. message, which was picked up by the state police.
Chief Montgomery said the hiker was lucky to be found when he was. “It would have been unlikely for him to survive the night, as temperatures were expected to be in the low single digits for the next 12 hours.”
“The quick response of our KSAR team members and their on-scene treatment for the hiker — may have saved his life,” Montgomery added.
The hiker thanked the 14 KSAR crew members personally for saving him before the state police drove him to the hospital for examination and possible treatment.
“I am extremely happy and impressed with our team members’ professionalism and dedication,” Montgomery said.
