Climbers Try to Stay Warm With $20 Bills
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LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Two men lost for three days on New York’s highest peak where temperatures reached 20 below zero said Wednesday they tried unsuccessfully to light fires with damp $20 bills and slept in each other’s arms to keep warm.
Shawn Dougher, 25, and Ralph Vecchio, 29, both from Stroudsburg, Pa., were in stable condition at Lake Placid Memorial Hospital suffering from frostbite.
The men left on a cross-country skiing trip Saturday with plans to reach the summit of 5,344-foot Mt. Marcy. They became disoriented because of whiteout conditions and remained lost until rescue workers found them Tuesday.
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