The body of a missing hiker was recovered over the weekend in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, according to authorities, who said the man died after “a significant fall in icy terrain.” The missing man was located at about 2,800 feet in elevation, according to the state Fish and Game Department. Photo courtesy of Samuel Banas, U.S. Geological Survey
Nov. 25 (UPI) — The body of a missing hiker was recovered over the weekend in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, according to authorities, who said the man died after “a significant fall in icy terrain.”
The body of Christopher Huyler, 44, was located in Franconia Notch State Park early Saturday, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department announced Monday.
“Just prior to 1:00 a.m. EST, while ascending the edges of a steep iced-over slide, the body of the missing man was located at around 2,800 feet in elevation,” the department said in a statement.
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“It was apparent that the man had suffered a significant fall in the icy terrain,” the department added. “He was wearing micro spikes and was well equipped for a hike.”
Huyler, who is from Littleton, died Friday during the hike near state-run Cannon Mountain through the Coppermine Brook Valley to check off-trail conditions before the ski season. He told his family he was heading back at 4 p.m. When he did not return, his wife called for help. Huyler’s car was found still parked in Franconia.
Cannon Mountain is a historic ski resort that is scheduled to open for the season on Friday, as 8 inches of new snow fell over the weekend and temperatures dropped into the mid-30s.
“Winter conditions have arrived in the mountains and hikers are encouraged to be prepared for their trek,” the Fish and Game Department warned.
Nearly two dozen rescuers helped carry the hiker’s body more than 3 miles off the mountain. The New Hampshire Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy.
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Last week, the body of a Massachusetts woman was found on New Hampshire’s Mount Lafayette, which is at the northern end of the Franconia Range in the White Mountains, after she also failed to return from a solo hike.
Two people are dead and another person has serious injuries following a crash Friday in Rumney, New Hampshire.
The Rumney Fire Department says it responded to Route 25 just after 1:30 p.m. for a motor vehicle crash with entrapment. Crews, including from Plymouth-Fire Rescue and the Wentworth Fire Department, arrived on scene to find two vehicles in the road that appeared to have been involved in a head-on collision.
The driver from one vehicle was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, the fire department said. The driver and a passenger in the second vehicle were both pronounced dead on scene.
The victims’ names have not been released at this time.
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Route 25 was closed for approximately five hours for an on-scene investigation and clean up, the fire department said.
It’s unclear what caused the fatal crash. The Rumney Police Department is investigating.
An eagle-eyed photographer captured the moment a shining fireball cut across the sky in southeast New Hampshire early Saturday evening.
Rob Wright, a professional photographer based in New Hampshire, shared dash camera footage of the suspected meteor — which he called a “bright green boldie” — blazing straight downwards while he was cruising through Portsmouth.
“That was one of the best I’ve seen and likely the best I’ve ever caught on camera,” Wright boasted on Facebook.
Dash camera footage captured a fireball beaming in the sky on Saturday. Rob Wright/Storyful
Wright was approaching a traffic circle in the coastal town when a pulsing yellow light appeared in the sky. It tracked downwards in a straight line and released a brighter spurt of light before disappearing entirely, all in the span of eight seconds, according to the video.
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Others in Nashua and Londonderry, both located southwest of Portsmouth and closer to the Massachusetts border, told WMUR that they also saw the suspected meteor.
The “bright green boldie” blazed over multiple towns in New Hampshire. Rob Wright/Storyful
Several other highlighted sightings around the same time in Dover, Bedford, Rindge, Hooksett and Jaffrey, which are all within a 90-mile radius of Portsmouth, according to the American Meteor Society.
Locals who follow Wright’s work reported seeing the fireball, too. One woman who also lives in Portsmouth commented that she “thought it must have been a firework.”
It’s unclear what exactly the fireball was.
It’s unclear what exactly the supposed fireball was. Rob Wright/Storyful
Meteorites present similarly to a fireball when they’re plummeting from orbit — but leave a more obvious impact.
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In August, a 3-foot meteor splintered in the air while it was flying over Georgia and left fragments scattered all over Newton County. The explosion caused a sonic boom equivalent to 20 tons of TNT exploding at once.
Pieces of the meteor were found all over the county, including one that crashed through the roof of a home.
Over the summer in 2024, a meteor disintegrated about 30 miles above Midtown Manhattan. The force shook parts of New York City, rattling midday commuters.
Firefighters from multiple northern New Hampshire communities helped battle a blaze at a home near Loon Mountain on Saturday night.
Campton-Thornton Fire Rescue said in a Facebook post Sunday morning that they responded to the fire on Crooked Mountain Road in Lincoln around 7 p.m. Several other area departments also responded and helped shuttle water to the scene from a site in nearby Woodstock.
No one was home at the time and no firefighters were injured battling the blaze. Fire crews cleared the scene around 4 a.m.