Washington
Hiker rescued from Mount Washington says he made 'poor decisions' and 'was underprepared'
Mount Washington Hiker Cole Matthes revealed what got him into the circumstances requiring a team of men to save him in an 11-hour rescue.
“I am extremely grateful to all 11 of the men who saved my life Saturday and am also extremely sorry that they had to risk their lives to save me,” Matthes told the Associated Press. “I certainly made poor decisions and was underprepared for this hike.”
Both he and the rescuers say that without help, he would have died within hours.
Matthes drifted away from the trail as temperatures plunged, and ferocious winds made it near impossible to see. He hit a patch of snow-covered ice and slid hundreds of feet down a ravine.
HIKER RESCUED FROM MOUNTAIN WITH 90-MPH WINDS, BITTER COLD ATOP MOUNT WASHINGTON
New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officer Levi Frye, left, and Jeremy Broughton, from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue, prepare to head out on a rescue mission at the Cog Railway base station, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Mount Washington, N.H. (Sgt. Glen Lucas/New Hampshire Fish and Game via AP)
The 22-year-old from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, said in an online interview that he has plenty of hiking experience but not during harsh winter conditions. He set off in spiked snowshoes planning to complete the challenging 9-mile Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail loop, which has an elevation gain of 4,200 feet.
New Hampshire Fish and Game said that as conditions worsened, Matthes ignored advice from other hikers to turn back prior to his fall.
“While I did see a group of hikers turn around at the Lake of the Clouds Hut, I decided to continue with other hikers,” Matthes said. “I was not hiking alone at that point and the weather conditions had not reached their peak.”
Mattes tumbled a little before noon, banging himself up and twisting his ankle before he called 911.
SKIER TRIGGERS AVALANCHE ON MOUNT WASHINGTON, SUFFERS LIFE-THREATENING INJURY
Snow covers the rails on the train tracks leading to the summit Mount Washington above the Cog Railway base station, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Mount Washington, N.H. (Conservation Officer Brad Jones/New Hampshire Fish and Game via AP)
Ryan Presby, who manages the Mount Washington Cog Railway, told the AP he took the train up three times with rescue crews. As winds hit 90 miles per hour and temperatures plunged, he worried the train’s diesel engine would gel and the train would seize. He told rescuers to jump out as quickly as possible when they reached their destination.
Levi Frye, a conservation officer with Fish and Game, was among the first group of three rescuers to jump off the train. He said it was immediately clear they needed crampons for the ice and fierce wind.
“We were fighting it the whole time. It was certainly capable of knocking you off your feet, especially with a heavy pack on,” Frye said. “The visibility was so bad on account of all the snow getting blown around.”
Rescuers used a system called leapfrogging, utilizing the trail’s marked rock cairns. One person would stay at the first cairn while another would try to locate the next cairn. The third person stood in the middle to keep in contact with both.
New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officer Brad Jones prepares to set out on a rescue mission at the Cog Railway base station ,Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Mount Washington, N.H. (Sgt. Glen Lucas/New Hampshire Fish and Game via AP)
Staying safe meant finding a balance between not getting too cold and not sweating too much, because it was even more dangerous to have sweat freeze, Frye said.
By the time the team reached Matthes a little after 6 p.m., it was already dark.
“I was extremely relieved once the first team of rescuers arrived,” Matthes said. “Even with my shelter, I wouldn’t have lasted through the night in my condition.”
MISSING HIKER FOUND DEAD NEAR ARIZONA PEAK
Ski lift can be scene on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Matthes’ boots were frozen solid, Frye said. The top priority was to strip him of his wet gear and get him into dry clothes. They gave him warm water and electrolytes and strapped his ankle as more rescuers arrived. By about 9:30 p.m., they felt he was stable and ready to leave. They got back to base a little before 11 p.m.
After being treated, Matthes said he declined the advice from rescuers to take an ambulance to the hospital because he thought it would be expensive. He drove himself there instead.
“I’m currently recovering from some frostbite on my toes,” Matthes said.
THE TREK TO THE TOP OF MOUNT WASHINGTON
A view of Mount Washington, standing at an elevation of 6,288.2 ft, in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshire on June 12, 2020. ((Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images))
New Hampshire Fish and Game said Matthes did not have proper gear or equipment, did not plan for the weather or make good decisions. In some previous cases, the agency has sought to recover rescue costs from hikers they believed to be negligent, but so far they have not decided what to do regarding Matthes.
Matthes said he was aware of the financial risk when he called 911.
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“But I knew that if I hadn’t called for help, I wouldn’t have made it down,” Matthes said. “At the end of the day, I’m alive, and that’s all that I could ask for.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) – The Washington County Sheriff’s Office released video of deputies using a drone to track down a man wanted for damaging a car.
On Saturday, May 30, a 911 caller reported a man damaging a car outside their home on Southwest 179th Avenue in Aloha. The sheriff’s office said it was reported the suspect, 21-year-old Santos Paulino Castro-Ramirez, was punching the car.
Deputies used a drone to follow the suspect as he ran toward Southwest Barcelona Lane. The sheriff’s office said Castro-Ramirez then entered a white SUV that did not belong to him on SW Barcelona.
Deputies arrested Castro-Ramirez. He was booked into the Washington County Jail for first-degree burglary and attempt to commit a crime – second-degree theft.
Copyright 2026 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.
Beirut, Lebanon – On Tuesday, representatives from Lebanon and Israel met at the US Department of State in Washington, DC – the first session of a two-day round of negotiations that Lebanese negotiators hope will end an invasion of their country.
The negotiations, which started at 9am local time (13:00 GMT), come as Israel’s invasion of Lebanon pushes deeper than at any point since the year 2000 and as Hezbollah and Israel continue to trade attacks. Israel has killed 3,468 people in Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
With the war raging on, what do Lebanon and Israel have to discuss and will the talks lead to an end of the Israeli assault?
Here’s everything you need to know.
What will Israel and Lebanon discuss?
Similar to past meetings, the two sides are ostensibly looking to come to some kind of deal following fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, with strong doubts it will be achieved.
Lebanon’s government is still pushing for a total ceasefire. However, as talks started, Israel was striking various parts of southern Lebanon. Lebanon is also trying to get Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory in the south, so that more than 1.2 million displaced people can return home, and so the state can resume finding a way to disarm Hezbollah and rebuild areas devastated by Israeli attacks.
Israel is meanwhile looking to get assurances that Lebanon will disarm Hezbollah, a prospect analysts say Israel knows is complicated by the continuation of its military operations and occupation of swaths of southern Lebanon. Instead, Israel appears to be trying to fuel sectarian tensions inside Lebanon, leading to chaos and internal strife.
What has happened so far?
An initial meeting took place in April between Israel and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the United States. A second round took place in May with a larger delegation on both sides.
On Friday, a meeting took place with Lebanese and Israeli military representatives, while Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group, is not involved in the meetings.
Israel claimed the two sides found common ground in that they both wanted to see Hezbollah disarmed. Some Israeli officials suggested there may soon be trade agreements and an exchange of tourists between the two countries. Lebanon, however, said it preferred to find a deal closer to the 1949 armistice agreement between the two countries.
In the last meeting, Beirut reportedly outlined the damage done by Israeli attacks since the 2024 ceasefire agreement and presented detailed maps showing homes destroyed or razed by Israel.
Is there a chance for a ceasefire?
That remains to be seen, but for now, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s military would continue attacking Lebanon.
On Monday, Netanyahu announced that attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs would resume, despite a ceasefire. Apart from two targeted attacks, Israel has not struck the suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, since April.
Iran, which has attempted to include Lebanon in a wider ceasefire between themselves, on one side, and Israel and the US on the other, then intervened by threatening to attack northern Israel.
US President Donald Trump reportedly intervened to stop Israel’s attacks. He announced another ceasefire, after his previous announcement of one between Israel and Lebanon on April 16, after claiming he had gotten the approval of Netanyahu and spoken to Hezbollah.
“There will be no troops going to Beirut, and any troops that are on their way have already been turned back,” Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social.
But attacks from Israel and Hezbollah are continuing.
How do Lebanese people feel about the talks?
Not everyone is on the same page.
Some Lebanese support the talks and say they are the only option the state, which has little leverage, has. Among those who believe direct talks are the best way forward are Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
“There is no option other than negotiation,” Aoun said in a statement on Tuesday.
Others, however, oppose direct talks. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his allies, Hezbollah, have said indirect talks are preferred and that negotiations cannot be conducted while attacks are ongoing.
How are Iran and the US connected?
Israel and the US attacked Iran on February 28, killing the country’s longtime leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran is Hezbollah’s primary benefactor, and two days after Khamenei’s assassination, Hezbollah fired six rockets towards Israel on 2 March.
Hezbollah’s response brought a huge response from Israel, who have crossed the Litani River – the supposed buzzer zone in southern Lebanon it had created – towards the Zahrani River.
Despite a 2024 ceasefire, Israel had never stopped attacking Lebanon, while Hezbollah had only responded once in December 2024.
Iran has attempted to include Lebanon in the ceasefire deal it has with the United States and Israel, who say this theatre is not part of the agreement.
Although Trump has now announced a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel twice, the invasion of southern Lebanon continues.
Are there other actors involved?
Gulf states have also intervened. Saudi Arabia has been working behind the scenes to get Lebanon’s leadership – Aoun, Salam and Berri – on the same page. Meanwhile, analysts say Saudi Arabia and Qatar engaged the Trump administration to stop an escalation in Lebanon.
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