Bethel firefighter and EMT Jim Bennett
SAD 17 to review winter outings
Maine’s Warden Service: Search charges not likely
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

PARIS – It appears unlikely that the Maine Warden Service will charge SAD 17 for the cost to search for and rescue eight high school students and two teachers on a weekend winter camping trip.

“We need to review reports from the search, but so far what I’ve seen does not head me in that direction,” said Col. Tim Peabody, chief of the Maine Warden Service.

Meanwhile, SAD 17 Superintendent Mark Eastman said Tuesday he will be reviewing reports from teachers Ann Speth and Jeff Norton “to see if there were areas here that we missed opportunities.”

The party, part of a wilderness leadership class taught by Speth, left Friday morning from Flat Road in Bethel for three days of hiking and camping along the rugged trails of the White Mountain National Forest.

They did not bring snowshoes, but otherwise had come prepared for a foot or more of snow with food, tents, shovels, a weather radio and a cellphone.

The snowstorm started locally at 7 a.m. Saturday. By afternoon it was falling heavily, with winds gusting up to 60 miles an hour.

The Warden Service mounted a search after the group failed to meet a school bus at 3 p.m. Sunday as planned.

Eastman said he and Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Principal Joe Moore talked late Friday, after realizing the group was facing much more snowfall than they anticipated going in.

He said he and Moore asked Peter Norton and his daughter, Jen Norton, to meet up with the hikers Saturday and “make them aware that this storm may be more significant.”

After the Nortons linked up with the group along the trail in the Stoneham area at 10 a.m., the decision was made to “continue on as scheduled,” Eastman said. “Peter assured us they were well-equipped.”

Peter Norton is Jeff Norton’s brother. Jen Norton remained with the group for the rest of the weekend.

It wasn’t until Sunday morning that the group decided to abandon the pre-planned route and head for Route 113, which is unplowed in winter. They couldn’t get reception for their cellphone to call in their change of plans.

They hoped that snowmobilers had broken a trail on Route 113 to make walking easier.

There was no packed trail, however, so the group hiked north for 12 hours Sunday in snow 3 feet or more deep.

They camped on the road Sunday night, and were spotted by a Warden Service pilot Monday morning after hiking for about an hour.

The search and rescue operation involved volunteers on snowshoes, a Warden Service plane, and helicopters from the Maine Army National Guard.

The hikers were ferried out the last three miles of Route 113 by game wardens and a rescue toboggan from Bethel Rescue. The Bethel and Gilead fire departments also assisted.

The Warden Service was given authority by the Legislature in 1997 to charge for searches involving clear cases of negligence or irresponsible decision-making.

“We’ve only charged two people in all that time,” Peabody said.

Both cases involved snowmobilers, one from the Buckfield area, the other from the Standish area, who neglected to call someone when they didn’t return as expected.

Eastman said the district has offered the wilderness leadership class for eight years, and many students who take it “say it’s one of the best courses they’ve ever had.” Students must apply for the course and are carefully selected.

“These kids are just very strong, very focused individuals,” he said. “Some of them have already said ‘Let’s do this again.'”

Speth and Norton are also very experienced winter trekkers, Eastman said. Speth has hiked to the top of Mount Washington in winter, and has hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail.

Norton, an English teacher with a love of outdoor education, has camped in Baxter State Park in winter.

“They were never in any danger,” Eastman said. He said the school district will review procedures for future winter camping trips. It may be, he said, that from now on, snowshoes will be required.

Bethel firefighter and EMT Jim Bennett, who helped in the rescue, said snowshoes wouldn’t have made much of a difference in this weekend’s storm.

“The wardens had them on, but they were sinking up to their knees,” he said. “The hikers were prepared, they didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that the conditions changed way beyond what anyone would have imagined.”

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