Cody Gordon, 19, of Jaffrey, was flown by helicopter to UMass Medical Center in Worcester following the accident. As of Wednesday morning his condition was improving, said Todd Szewczyk, a conservation officer with Fish and Game.

Officers responded to an emergency call at about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday from a snowmobile trail off of Route 202. Gordon and his friend Steven Cottke had been riding on the trail when Gordon came to a point in the trail where the ground drops off near a stream, Szewczyk said. As he tried to cross, Gordon was thrown from his snowmobile, Szewczyk said. When Cottke caught up to Gordon, he was unconscious.

By the time rescue crews arrived, Gordon had regained consciousness but was still flown to the hospital.

Szewczyk said alcohol does not appear to be a factor, but speed may have been. The incident is still under investigation.

Michael O’Clair, 21, of Shirley, died at the scene after the snowmobile he was driving along the right-of-way for overhead power lines between Mount Henry and Leominster roads went off a sharp embankment, crashed into tree limbs and fell 40 feet.

His passenger, Jennifer Testa, 26, of Pepperell, was listed in critical condition yesterday at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

A Leone spokeswoman, declined to discuss details.

Police found a helmet near Testa, but did not find one for O’Clair at the crash scene. State law requires that snowmobile riders wear helmets.

After eating dinner at a local establishment, Armstrong and a group of three other snowmobilers, including his son, rode their snowmobiles approximately a mile up the traveled portion of Indian Stream Road toward a camp where they had been staying.

Armstrong and one of the other riders had ridden past the camp, and the two remaining riders rode up the road further to look for them. Witnesses said they saw the headlight beam from Armstrong’s snowmobile going through the trees in a cloud of snow.

A member of the riding party called 911 from a camp at 182 Indian Stream Road at approximately 9:35 p.m., and rescue crews from Pittsburg Fire and Rescue and 45th Parallel EMS, along with Pittsburg Police Chief Richard Lapoint and New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officer Chris Egan, responded to the scene.

Rescuers initiated CPR, and efforts to revive Armstrong continued until 10:15 p.m. Deputy Medical Examiner Faye Memolo pronounced him dead at the scene shortly before midnight.

CO Egan stated that operating at a high rate of speed, and operating on a plowed road were contributing factors in the crash.

Snowmobile crashes have resulted in serious injury to five other riders in the area stretching from Colebrook to Pittsburg since last Wednesday.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department urges snowmobilers to ride safely and at a reasonable speed for the existing conditions, and to stick to the designated trail system.

Conservation Officers will continue to be patrol the trails on snowmobiles, strictly enforcing speed limits and reckless operation. In addition to officer presence on the trails, “it certainly helps when club members and other snowmobile riders remind each other to ride safely,” said Egan. “People tend to listen more intently to members of their own peer group.”

SHIRLEY, Mass. – Police say a 21-year-old Shirley man was killed after crashing a snowmobile into a tree on Sunday.

The crash occurred on a very steep hill off Mt. Henry Road in Shirley at about 5 p.m.

The man had died before authorities arrived on-scene. A 26-year-old woman from Pepperell had serious injuries and was taken to Leominster Hospital, and then to UMass Memorial Medical Center. Her condition was unknown.

The names were being withheld.