THORNTON, N.H. — An experienced hiker who completed the “Triple Crown” of challenging cross-country trails died in New Hampshire’s White Mountains while hiking solo in harsh conditions including single-digit temperatures, high winds and thick snow.
Christopher Roma, 37, was an expert hiker who ran his own long-distance hiking guide company and had hiked this well-known trail many times before. He had started the walk with two other people, but the others thought it was too much for them and turned away, his mother told The Associated Press.
“Once you get to a certain point, you have to make the choice to continue or turn back,” Barabara Roma said. “And he was never really a kid to back down.”
Concerned friends of Roma began calling 911 around 10:20 pm on Tuesday after speaking to him on mobile phone. Roma eventually reached the emergency line himself and said he was very cold.
That call allowed authorities to obtain coordinates of the Roma’s placement between Mount Bond and Mount Guyot.
A large team of fish and game officials and search and rescue crews assembled and set out starting at 2 a.m. Wednesday, but were delayed by blowing snow. A New Hampshire Army National Guard helicopter crew made three separate flights but could not reach the target area on Mount Guyot because of low clouds and poor visibility, said Lt. James Kneeland of the Fish and Game Department.
By the time ground crews reached Roma at 5 p.m., he was dead.
The helicopter was able to recover his body on Thursday morning, which would have been a difficult task for 15 conservationists and more than 30 volunteers who were on their way to him.
Born in England, Roma moved with his family to Thornton, in the heart of the White Mountains, when he was five, and grew up skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and hiking challenging terrain. A serious motorcycle accident 10 years ago broke his neck and ribs, but that didn’t stop him, his father, Hayden Roma, told The Associated Press in an interview Friday.
“That changed his whole life,” his father said. After his recovery, he devoted himself to hiking, conquering the Pacific Crest Trail between Mexico and Canada, the Continental Divide Trail along the Rocky Mountains, and then the Appalachian Trail, which he completed in 99 days. Together they are known as the “Triple Crown” hike.
“He was doing more than 20, 35 miles a day,” his father said.
Roma had also hiked all 48 of New Hampshire’s 4,000-foot mountains, a 250-mile trek, in just over 10 days, he said in his blog.
“He was trying to beat a personal best, I think – he was trying to work to do it in a certain time. He just ended up in crazy weather,” Barbara Roma said during his last walk. ‘The wind really picked up. At one point they were driving up to 80 miles per hour,” she says.
She said there was “no disturbance” when he called 911. “They stayed on the phone with him for a few hours.”
The call was eventually abandoned and rescuers gave the family a bleak outlook Wednesday morning because it was so cold, she said. “There had been people outside since four in the morning trying to get through. They had to return because they all got frostbite.”
She said some of his friends kept searching and found him.
Christopher Roma, president of Northeast Trekking Company, a guiding service for long-distance hikers, said on his website that his hiking experiences transformed him and he wanted to share his knowledge with others.
“I have learned a lot the hard way, and my goal is to educate and inform you about the dangers of the wild, the trials and tribulations, and the importance of sustainability. I want to show you that if we take care of nature, nature will also take care of us, mentally and physically,” the website says.
Roma’s mother Christopher “always wanted to achieve more” and loved his family and enjoyed hiking with his 2-year-old son Solomon.
His sister, Megan, fondly remembered how he interacted with people during their last walk together in August, along Hadrian’s Wall, near the border of England and Scotland.
“He always cared about people and wanted the best for them, to change their lives every time they went for a walk,” she said. They had good conversations.”
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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire.