20 hikers who were not prepared for the unpredictable weather conditions at Mount Washington, New Hampshire, were rescued on Saturday after they got stuck in temperatures below freezing. The hikers were rescued by the Mount Washington Cog Railway, which runs year-round, even though the Mount Washington State Park Summit Facilities shut down in mid-October. “Today on the Cog Railway, we have brought down over 20 ill-prepared hikers from the Summit of Mount Washington, and many were hypothermic and without gear, even near suitable for the conditions,” Andrew Vilaine, the railway’s trainmaster, wrote in a Facebook post.
The hiker reached the 6,288-foot summit of Mount Washington and most had no idea that Summit services would be unavailable and that the state park was closed for the season. Some of the hikers indicated that it was their first hike ever, according to Vilaine. Temperatures near the summit had reached 15 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday, with a wind chill between minus 5 and 0 degrees. On Sunday morning, temperatures on the mountain were around 20 degrees, a wind chill of 2 degrees, with three to four inches of snow on the ground.
Mount Washington is located in the White Mountains and is a popular destination that is located 165 miles from Boston. Every year, an average of 25 people require rescue assistance on the mountain, and nearly 150 people have died since 1849, according to the Mount Washington Avalanche Center.
Mount Washington’s Averages and Extremes
- Fastest Wind Speed: 231 mph
- Avg. Annual Temperature: 27.3˚F
- Record High Temperature: 72˚F
- Record Low Temperature: -47˚F
- Average Precipitation: 96.87 inches
- Record Precipitation: 130.14 inches
- Average Snowfall: 281.2 inches
- Record Snowfall: 566.4 inches
The weather conditions on Mount Washington are often so extreme due to the three major wind patterns that flow from west to east in North America. All three wind patterns converge over the area around Mount Washington, where wind can travel unimpeded for more than one thousand miles before it reaches the peak of Mount Washington. This extremely long fetch means that high winds are quite typical as the mountain is significantly taller than any surrounding peaks. Mount Washington is the highest peak in the area and is in the center of the mountain range, and all of the weather gets funneled over the summit. As the air flows over the summit, the wind speed increases, causing unpredictable conditions.
With winter quickly approaching, the New Hampshire State Parks issued a warning reminding hikers of the dangerous conditions on Mount Washington.
“Be prepared or hike another day. It’s winter on the summit of Mount Washington. At 12 pm on October 26, it was 21 degrees with a 30mph wind. The Sherman Adams building at Mount Washington State Park is CLOSED for the season, and there is no shelter. Multiple people have arrived at the summit the last few days, very unprepared for winter and required assistance. Be ‘Wildly Responsible’ and please do some research on current higher summits weather and bring everything needed to hike in winter conditions, or just hike another day,” the New Hampshire State Parks posted on its Facebook page.
Mount Washington is notorious for having the “worst weather in the world.” Many people may wonder how its weather could rival that of places like Antarctica, Mount Everest, or the Sahara Desert. Mount Washington has the second-fastest wind speed ever recorded on Earth, and the fastest wind speed ever recorded by a human at 231 mph (372 kph).
This incident exemplifies the need to prepare for the unexpected. Several of the hikers were unprepared and had no hiking experience, but encountered unforeseen conditions. The 20 hikers were fortunate that the COG Railway was still running and were able to rescue them. With the uncertainty and constant changes of weather conditions on Mount Washington, it is also uncertain if they would have survived if it weren’t for the COG.
