CONTACT:
CO Jonathan Demler
603-744-5470
603-271-3361
February 12, 2024
Lincoln, NH – At approximately 12:15 p.m. on February 11, 2024, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department was notified of a snowmobile crash that had occurred in the Flume Gorge Visitor Center parking area in Franconia Notch State Park. Personnel from Linwood Ambulance, the Lincoln Police Department, and a Conservation Officer from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department responded to the scene. The passenger of the snowmobile, Laurie Toupin, 60, of Brookline, NH, was taken to Littleton Regional Healthcare by ambulance after sustaining serious but non-life threatening injuries.
Investigation of the crash established that the operator of the snowmobile, Nicole Chevarie, 57, of New York, NY, had been traveling on NH Snowmobile Corridor 11, which crosses through the Flume Gorge Visitor Center, while carrying Toupin as her passenger. Chevarie attempted to negotiate a curb and accelerated the snowmobile in a way that caused her to lose control. The snowmobile departed the trail and crashed down a steep embankment, injuring Toupin in the process. Operator inexperience is considered the main contributing factor to the crash.
Conservation Officers want to highlight that snowmobile conditions are poor with limited riding availability in the few areas of the New Hampshire where trails are still open. Exercise appropriate caution for the conditions.