“I was worried. I was worried. I was looking at it on my way here responding, and that’s in the middle of nowhere. It’s on old fire roads on the back side of the mountain. So they had gotten a long way from the ski area.”– John Bennett, Princeton Fire Chief.
Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Massachusetts got a historic snowstorm this week, as they recorded 31″ of snow from the Nor’Easter. This led to some people looking for deep powder, with some even venturing out of bounds. Unfortunately, this wet snow led to two teenagers getting stuck in Wachusett’s backcountry.
WCVB reports that two fifteen-year-old boys traveled out of bounds into Wachusett’s backside in order to find deep powder stashes. They then got lost and stuck in chest-deep snow, and called for help. With their phone batteries only at 9%, authorities were able to find them thanks to their GPS coordinate capabilities. One of the boys lay on top of the other to stay warm.
With the deep snowpack, the Princeton Fire Department couldn’t reach the boys. This is where Wachusett Mountain stepped up. They transported the Fire Department with snowcats to the spot where the teenagers were.
Once the snowcats arrived, they brought the boys inside it to warm them up. The two teenagers were fine, as they declined a ride to the hospital and were picked up by their parents. They promised not to go out of bounds again.
Here’s the official statement from the Princeton Fire Department:
“Princeton Fire / EMS Rescued two young skiers last evening on the back side of Wachusett Mountain in an extremely remote area with the help of the Wachusett grooming department and ski patrol. The kids got lost when they decided to explore outside of ski area boundaries. They were found with the help of dispatch technology that can target a cell phone signal and lock in GPS coordinates. Their phones were only at 9%. They were approximately 2 miles from any civilization. Personnel battled the elements, darkness and dangerous snowpack. This could have ended tragically but these boys are very lucky and used their heads and shared body heat to survive.”
A video report from WCVB is below.
Image/Video Credits: Wachusett Mountain, WCVB
