How to Stay Warm and Safe in the Backcountry
Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team – February 2019
A short presentation to help you prepare for backcountry adventures including the 10 Essentials and what to do if you get lost. (PDF) (PowerPoint)

Harrowing hikes put rescuers at risk, know when to call it a day
James Mason, New Hampshire Union Leader – January 24, 2025
Considerations as we continue to push our personal limits…

Why do hikers keep dying in the White Mountains of New Hampshire?
Kevin Koczwara, The Boston Globe January 24, 2023
It was still dark when Emily Sotelo set out. At 4:30 a.m. on November 20, Sotelo’s mother dropped her at the head of the Falling Waters Trail — named for its fairy-tale cascades. She was heading toward the Franconia Ridge Trail and the summit of Mount Lafayette, a 5,249-foot peak in the White Mountains with an alpine zone where only dwarf vegetation can survive.

The cost of search and rescue missions
Amanda Gokee, New Hampshire Bulletin – June 17, 2022
Around 180 times a year, New Hampshire Fish and Game search and rescue units are dispatched to aid someone who has gotten in trouble outdoors. Sometimes, it’s a call from a hiker who has slipped on a wet rock and broken a leg or ankle. Other times, it’s from a rock climber who is stranded on a ledge without ropes or a way to get down.

Assessment of Hypothermia Blankets Using an Advanced Thermal Manikin
National Renewable Energy Laboratory – August 2009
This is a dated, but interesting study conducted for the US Army on subject heat loss using various packaging methods. It’s a few years old, but worth a quick read. “Wrapping a radiation shield around a conventional wool blanket and using a wool blanket underneath the patient further reduced heat loss.”

Winter Recreation Safety
SPNHF – February 22, 2021
Cold is Cool . . . if you’re prepared. Learn more about the 10 Essentials you should bring when you are heading outside in the winter.

General Bulletin
Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team – February 19, 2021
Every day we are faced with making many, even hundreds, of decisions about how we will handle a given situation. And every time these judgement calls, small and large, have the potential to result in minor to serious unanticipated consequences.

Officials: Mountain Search And Rescue Went Up As The Unprepared Headed Out
AMC Outdoors – November 2, 2020
New Hampshire Fish and Game’s Lt. Jim Kneeland doesn’t go anywhere without his phone these days. Or his maps. Kneeland oversees Fish and Game operations in the western White Mountains and since the beginning of summer, he’s been on the receiving end of a seemingly endless torrent of calls for help. Not just search and rescue calls, but directional requests from hikers who’ve ambled into the backcountry without a map and gotten lost—often after dark.

Who Pays For Search and Rescue? Behind the Tricky Economics of New Hampshire SAR
AMC Outdoors – February 27, 2020
Rescues are on the rise in the New Hampshire backcountry, and they’re not cheap. We dig into the tricky economics of SAR and how to avoid getting billed for your own rescue.

How to Recognize and Treat the First Signs of Hypothermia in the Backcountry
AMC Outdoors – November 25, 2019
AMC’s medical advisor, Dr. Tom Trimarco, discusses what to do if you encounter someone showing signs of hypothermia in the backcountry.

Search and Rescue in N.H.: Pushing the Limits
New Hampshire Public Radio, The Exchange – November 4, 2019
In addition to hikers on N.H.’s many trails, there are also a growing number of trail runners, backcountry skiers, bikers and climbers. As adventurers in New Hampshire’s backcountry press at limits previously untested or left alone, this trend is joined by modern technology in presenting a new series of challenges for rescuers and for society in general.