NEWCOMB — The search for a hiker from Quebec who was reported missing on Allen Mountain more than a week ago is transitioning to a “weather-dependent” recovery mission as the cold temperatures, snowfall and remote search area endanger searchers and keep them from making progress.
Leo Dufour, 22, of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec set out on Nov. 29 alone to hike Allen Mountain, a High Peak with an elevation of 4,340 feet. After nine days of active searching, 59 forest rangers with the state Department of Environmental Conservation have covered 400 miles of ground by foot. But with snowfall accumulating every day, and the weather and rugged terrain posing risks to searchers, they have home up empty. As the search becomes a recovery mission and the weather remains harsh, they are transitioning the search to a limited continuous search.
Forest Ranger Jamison Martin, the incident commander for the search, said it was hard to make the decision to transition the search.
“When you give it 100% you hope to have some sort of conclusion. It’s extremely hard,” he said. “You want to do it for the family.”
‘SWIMMING’ IN SNOW
A limited continuous search is all about safety and access, Forest Ranger Captain Sarah Geesler said. It is dependent on snow and temperatures. She said “detectability” has been low. The summit has more than 4 feet of snow, and searchers are “swimming” in it chest-deep, making searching next to impossible.
“If we have a good window where we’re going to have high levels of detectability, then we’re absolutely going to try to get out there and search for Leo,” Geesler said.
While the DEC suspended active field search efforts as of midnight on Monday, it may continue air searches, backcountry patrols and outreach.
“The operation will upgrade to an active search if any leads regarding the whereabouts of DuFour are realized,” according to DEC spokesman Jeff Wernick.
Anyone with information can contact New York State Police at 518-873-2778.
Martin and Geesler strongly discouraged people from searching for DuFour on their own.
“We don’t want to have to come out and rescue anyone else,” Geesler said.
‘BRUTAL’ CONDITIONS
Martin said that on Sunday, they had to rescue a volunteer searcher, which hampered the search efforts for DuFour.
“The professionals have been at it for a week solid and we haven’t been able to find a thing,” Martin said.
Martin said conditions have been “brutal.”
Winds have hit 20 to 30 miles per hour and created whiteouts and wind chills below -25 degrees Fahrenheit. It snowed six to eight inches on the day DuFour was hiking, Martin said, and has snowed a couple inches every day since.
The hike to the summit of Allen Mountain is around a 20-mile round-trip, Martin said. Searchers have been shuttled in as far as they can by ATV and snowmobiles, but they hike most of the way in themselves. Martin said they hike a mountain for 10 miles in a blizzard, and then they start the work of actually searching.
“If you stop moving, if you don’t have the gear — the puffy suits to get into — your body’s going to shut down in a matter of hours,” Martin said. “You just can’t survive it.”
The last active search crews left the field Monday afternoon, he said.
NOT LIKELY ALIVE
The last sign of DuFour’s location was a water bottle found near the slides close to the summit approach.
On the first night, searchers tracked what they believe to be DuFour’s footprints before the snow covered the tracks. Martin said they had two “pretty definitive” satellite hookups on DuFour’s phone lower on the mountain from earlier in his hike.
Martin said it is possible DuFour is still alive, but not likely.
“Odds are, it’s a recovery mission,” he said.
Forest rangers have been in contact with DuFour’s family, but they are keeping those conversations private.
Dufour is an avid hiker, according to Facebook posts from friends and family members, and had winter hiking gear — including snowshoes and microspikes — as well as a stove.
Martin said other hikers had signed in at the trail register for Allen Mountain a few days before and a few days after he was reported missing. Geesler said these trail register sign-ins are important in searches. They’ve contacted everyone else who was on the mountain at around the same time.
New York State Police have transported searchers and supplies to the mountain by helicopter and conducted aerial searches with infrared as weather conditions allowed. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has provided communications in the backcountry.
SEARCH HISTORY
Rangers began the search after getting a call from DuFour’s father, at 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 1, who said DuFour was expected back the night before. State Police said in a Facebook post that they received the initial call at around 11 p.m. on Nov. 30. DuFour’s vehicle was located at the Mount Adams Trailhead on the Upper Works Road in the town of Newcomb.
The search has centered around Allen Mountain and possible corridors where DuFour could have gone off-trail, such as stream or drainage depressions that may have resembled a possible route.
Portions of the trail to Allen are unmarked and unofficial, including the final portion of the hike that gains most of the elevation near the summit. Allen Mountain is considered an extremely isolated peak — the most remote High Peak in the Adirondacks, according to Forest Ranger Scott Sabo. The trail to its summit is approximately 9 miles one-way from the Mount Adams parking lot, with several bridgeless streams to cross.
Geesler said people hiking the backcountry in the winter should hike in groups, have the right gear and have satellite phones. Without cell phone coverage in areas like Allen Mountain, satellite phones are the only way to communicate.
Video of rangers searching through the trees on Allen Mountain can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/4n6v4vav.