HANCOCK, Mass. — Emergency rescuers found two snowboarders lost in the Pittsfield State Forest after a four hour search.
According to police, Shaun Maynard and Anthony Shufelt, two Pittsfield residents in their late teens were snowboarding on the backside of the forest when they got lost.
The two used a cell phone to dial 911, which called into Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department, shortly after 6 p.m. The phone then lost service and the snowboarders attempted to hike back from where their starting point.
State police were coordinating the efforts by the environmental police, Hancock Fire and Rescue and the state Department of Recreation. The hikers were found at 10 p.m. by the environmental police. Neither were injured but both were taken to Berkshire Medical Center for evaluation.
Some 5 to 8 inches of snow had fallen over the region since Monday night and temperatures were plummeting as a cold front moved into the area along with high winds. Forecasters were predicting temperatures overnight to dip below zero with a wind-chill factor of 10 to 20 degrees below zero.
Searchers were reportedly using sirens in the area of Goodrich Hollow Road.
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