The body of Christopher Roma, an experienced hiker, was recovered Thursday after he succumbed to the elements on a day hike in New Hampshire, officials said.
A resident of Thornton, New Hampshire, he took to one of his favorite trails Tuesday just a few miles up the road in Lincoln.
Roma, who was 38, according to his voter registration records, was well-versed in the state’s White Mountains, having hiked each of the 48 4,000-foot peaks, a feat known as the NH 48.
But by about 10 p.m., Roma knew he was in trouble.
Snow on parts of the trail was waist-deep, temperatures were in the single digits, and the wind was picking up, according to a statement from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
Friends of Roma’s alerted emergency services after hearing from him that he had gotten stuck on a trail near Mount Bond, a peak about 60 miles north of Concord, and was in distress. Roma himself called for help a short while later, informing rescue workers that he was “very cold,” the statement said.
Rescuers from several agencies began a search for Roma at 2 a.m. Wednesday, but snow and wind slowed the efforts, and a call was made to the New Hampshire Army National Guard to request a helicopter. Guard members then made three attempts to reach the area but were stymied by poor visibility and low clouds.
By the time a rescue team on the ground reached Roma at 5 p.m., he was dead.
“While his family and friends are devastated by this loss, we find comfort knowing that he died doing what he loved,” read a statement on an online fundraiser set up by Roma’s friends.
Roma’s trail name — a moniker hikers use to refer to one another on long treks — was Rafiki. He had completed the arduous “triple crown of hiking,” which includes the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail, the country’s three major long-distance trails.
He had also set up a business, North East Trekking Co., that helped others prepare for their own 1,000-mile endeavors, according to the company’s website.
According to interviews his family gave to The Associated Press, Roma had a 2-year-old son, Solomon.
Roma’s mother, Barbara Roma, said he had probably been trying to beat his personal best time on a trail that was very familiar to him but got caught in “freak weather.”
“Once you get to a certain point, you have to make that choice to continue or turn back,” she said. “And he was never really a turning-back kind of kid.”