PICTURES | Mount Lafayette hike turns into fight for survival and helicopter rescue

A lone hiker's adventure to watch the sunrise at Mount Lafayette, New Hampshire, on Thursday morning turned into an emergency response.

Patrick Bittman, a 28-year-old man from Portland, Maine, began climbing the mountain Wednesday evening, according to a news release from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

When he got near the top of Little Haystack, he got caught in heavy snow and decided to turn back.

But on his descent, he was unable to find the trail and got lost.

The lone hiker finally called 911 and informed emergency responders that his limbs were frozen, that he was hypothermic and that he could no longer move forward due to the many feet of snow that had fallen.

According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, temperatures were around -7 degrees Celsius with constant winds that gusted over 30 mph.

The coordinates determined during the call established that the man was approximately 1000 feet (approximately 305 meters) further from the runway where he was supposed to be and at 4300 feet (approximately 1310 meters) above sea level. .

The search and rescue team began their climb toward the hiker around 10 a.m. Thursday morning.

They called in the National Guard for help from the air. But when the helicopter arrived near the location, around 10:45 a.m., the cloud cover was too dense and did not allow them to reach the location where the lost hiker was located.

The first rescuers finally arrived near the man in distress around 1 p.m.

They placed the hiker in a tent for shelter and gave him dry, warm clothing and hot liquid to warm him.

Fortunately for them, the sky finally cleared enough to allow the National Guard helicopter to arrive at the scene around 3 p.m.

The man was quickly hoisted up and as soon as he entered the helicopter, around 3:15 p.m., the cloud cover reformed in the area.

Patrick Bittman was still able to be transported to the hospital where he was treated.