MOUNT CLAY, N.H. (AP) – One man was killed and two injured in a back country skiing accident Sunday on Mount Clay.

The three were skiing near the summit between Mount Washington and Mount Jefferson when one fell and then a second fell trying to get his skis off to help the first. The one who was killed fell hundreds of feet down an extremely steep slope that ends in a boulder field, Fish and Game officer Douglas Gralenski said.

The second man suffered rib and hip injuries, and the third man suffered frostbite, Gralenski said. They were taken to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin.

Their names and hometowns were withheld until relatives could be notified, but Gralenski said they were middle age.

One of the men called 911 on a cell phone for help at about 3 p.m. and state parks officer Mike Pelchat, who was at the summit of Mount Washington, hiked about two hours with a few volunteers to reach the men, needing technical climbing with ropes, ice axes and crampons.

The two injured men were airlifted by National Guard helicopter to the base of Mount Washington at about 8:30 p.m. The body of the third man was to be retrieved Monday by helicopter if the weather was OK. Otherwise, rescuers would have to hike up.

“We’ll have our hands full with all day long to get him out of there,” Gralenski said.

The temperature on the mountain was about 11.

degrees with light winds.

AP-ES-03-07-04 2237EST

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