FRANCONIA, N.H. (AP) Officials say two trail runners, one of whom is from Maine, were airlifted from a New Hampshire mountain after one man lost his shoes and continued running barefoot through several feet of snow.
The Union-Leader reports that state Fish and Game Department officers were called to Mount Lafayette Saturday after 35-year-old Michael Burleson and 34-year-old Nicholas Drouin called 911.
The hikers told officers they lost their path amid 40 mph winds, snow and freezing temperatures.
Authorities say one of the men lost his shoes while trekking through deep snow and decided to continue barefoot before being forced to stop “due to frozen extremities.” A helicopter eventually lifted the two to safety.
Their conditions weren’t given.
