By Nathan Duke
Staff Writer

Officials are still investigating the death of a 42-year-old Weare man who crashed his snowmobile into trees near Elm Brook Lake in Hopkinton.

The crash took place near midnight on Friday, March 4. Richard Beaudoin, of 25 Als Drive, Weare, died after his 1988 Arctic Cat 600 hit two small dead trees at the ice's edge on Elm Brook Lake and then hit larger trees along the shoreline, said New Hampshire Fish and Game officials.

Beaudoin was riding with two friends who were operating separate machines, and sped off when they reached Elm Brook Lake. After losing sight of Beaudoin, his friends came upon the crash scene, where other snowmobilers were tending to him, one of whom performed CPR, said officials.

Beaudoin was taken to Concord Hospital and pronounced dead on the morning of Saturday, March 5.

Five other fatal snowmobile accidents have taken place in New Hampshire since the beginning of the year.

In February, 16-year-old Dylan Libby of Hill lost control of his snowmobile and struck some trees. In January, two Massachusetts residents were killed in Pittsburg when a snowmobile hit a woman walking on ice. Near the beginning of the year, another Massachusetts man fell through a hole in the ice on his snowmobile on Lake Winnipesaukee and drowned. On the same day, another man in Conway died after crashinginto a tree.

State Fish and Game Department's Dave Eskeland, the investigating officer for Beaudoin's crash, said the high number of crashes this year is a result of a number of factors.

"Typically, there is alcohol or speed involved," he said. "People tend to overdrive their abilities when they really need to slow down."