Being Unprepared
BY Herschel Smith
1 week ago
Over 20 “ill-prepared” hikers were rescued from New Hampshire’s Mount Washington after they were trapped in “full winter conditions” without the proper gear, with some developing hypothermia, according to the Mount Washington Cog Railway.
The hikers, who were rescued on Saturday by railway officials, had reached the mountain’s 6,288-foot summit, but “most had no idea that summit services would be unavailable and that the state park was closed for the season,” Andy Vilaine, the assistant general manager for the Mount Washington Cog Railway, said in a statement on Saturday.
The train was heading to the summit as normal when crew members discovered “several distressed hikers,” Vilaine said in a statement to ABC News.
Some of the hikers even admitted it was “their first hike ever,” Vilaine said.
Near the summit, temperatures on Saturday reached roughly between 15 to 18 degrees, with a wind chill anywhere between minus 5 and zero degrees, Vilaine said.
Train crew members created space “anywhere we could” for the hikers, with some even placed in locomotive cabs “with the heat on full-blast so they could start to reverse the effects of hypothermia,” Vilaine said.
Imagine being so stupid that you use Mount Washington for your first hike ever, where the record low was measured at -50 degrees F, wind speeds achieve ~ 100 MPH, the wind chill is regularly in the range of -80 to -100 degrees F, and the weather is too severe to sustain plant life at all.
I have grown to love my KUIU gear while hunting (I just decided that I was tired of being cold and wet and I deserved better), and I wouldn’t have even done that this time of the year with all of it on in layers.
On November 4, 2025 at 12:20 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
Mount Washington is famous in meteorological circles as the site of the long-time mark for the highest wind speed ever recorded, namely on April 12, 1934, staff members of a weather station atop the mountain recorded winds reaching 231 mph. That record stood for many years until Tropical Cyclone Olivia reached 254 mph at Australia’s Barrow Island. If memory serves, the Mt. Washington mark still stands as the record for the northern hemisphere.
On November 4, 2025 at 4:31 am, WiscoDave said:
Compare/contrast to this story. Though I wish someone would report on what he had with him. 20 days would require some supplies, I would think.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/hunter-missing-20-days-california-wilderness-found-alive/story?id=127128664
On November 4, 2025 at 5:22 am, Mark Matis said:
The real shame is that the train found them!
On November 4, 2025 at 7:11 am, mike said:
Usually any official rescue in NH comes out of the Fish and Wildlife budget funded by sportsmen. NH hunters hate hiker rescues. There was legislation to recover costs from grossly unprepared hikers who are rescued with state resources, but it is rarely enforced to the fullest extent. A national guard helicopter costs 10’s of thousands of dollars for a few hours and they are used for above treeline S&R/rescue a few times a year.
On November 4, 2025 at 7:20 am, jrg said:
U.S. citizens have become accustomed to climate controlled environments all the time. Go to work from warm house to vehicle with heater and working in heated building. We are only uncomfortable from house to vehicle and from vehicle to building. Otherwise – who needs a coat ?
I equate the behavior with people who go to Yellowstone and attempt to pet the bison. How was your Yellowstone Experience ? Stupid should hurt. They are lucky there are people paid to go out and save them from themselves.
On November 4, 2025 at 9:41 am, Arthur Sido said:
I did a hike on Mount Washington in the winter back in the 90s and Mt Washington is no joke. We were geared up and it was still a brutal climb, once you get above the tree line it is like you stepped into a different world.
On November 4, 2025 at 1:35 pm, scott s. said:
I did Mt Washington via Lion Head back in my backpacking days. I was in pretty good shape and made it up and down in about 8 hours. It was really cold at the summit and I didn’t stick around. I know people have died on Lion Head in the past, going up too late in the season.
On November 4, 2025 at 8:44 pm, Dan said:
Once again Darwin has been thwarted by modern technology…
On November 5, 2025 at 7:27 pm, Steady Steve said:
It still amazes me that people head off to places and activities without doing any research. They just refuse to learn from others’ mistakes.
On November 6, 2025 at 12:03 pm, xtphreak said:
Rode my 1999 Triumph 885i to the top in 2009 while solo traveling up there
Just looked up a picture I took at the top:
July 6, 2009
Current temp 40°F
24 Hour Max Temp 43°F
24 Hour Min Temp 35°F
Max Wind W 75mph
Not as tall as Mt Mitchell (or a bunch of other Appalachian peaks, but being so far north simulates higher altitude).
Beautiful ride.
Ride Safe
On November 8, 2025 at 8:12 am, Modarnis said:
I hike in the White Mountains regularly and continue to be stunned how ill prepared most people are for the rapid weather changes that present in all four seasons. This terrain is at best challenging on perfect weather days. I have seen snow squalls in July on the approach to Washington. The consequences of being dumb in this environment could be extreme and permanent. Should rescue teams be put in harm’s way for the willfully ignorant is an important moral question