Rescuers Saved a Hypothermic Hiker on Mount Washington

A summer hike on New Hampshire’s 6,288-foot Mount Washington became a fight for survival for a 55-year-old woman on Friday, June 20.

According to a press release from New Hampshire’s Fish and Game Department, the woman required a rescue after temperatures plunged and gusting winds began to batter the peak. The woman, identified by officials as Caroline Wilson of Austin, Texas, became hypothermic and unable to move or communicate on an exposed ridge just below the peak’s summit.

Officials received a distress call from Wilson’s husband at 5:00 P.M. He said that his wife “was unable to move or communicate” and needed help, the release stated. Wilson was hiking the Gulfside Trail, a popular route leading to Mount Washington’s summit from the north flank.

Rescuers from the Fish and Game department responded, as did volunteers from three local search and rescue outfits, and by 7:00 P.M., the first team of lifesaving personnel was ascending the mountain on the famed Mount Washington Cog Railway, an alpine train that ascends the peak. The rescue was made easier by the fact that Wilson’s position on the Gulfside Trail was located near the railway’s track.

At the time of her rescue, the weather station on the peak’s summit was recording winds up to 120 miles per hour and temperatures at 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

“The Cog has always been willing to help in every rescue situation,” said NHFG, “and this time they provided a train, which saved rescuers from having to hike over three miles up the Jewell Trail in rainy, windy conditions” to access the stranded hiker.

Even with the help of the train, rescuers hiked a mile along an exposed ridgeline above 5,000 feet, encountering high winds and freezing temperatures, to reach Wilson. She was then carried back to the train in a litter, and later transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. But she wasn’t alone in her predicament. On the same day, officials received multiple other calls concerning hypothermic hikers throughout the Presidential Range, which includes Washington and other nearby peaks.

Located in New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest, Mount Washington is the tallest peak in the northeastern United States. Although it’s only 6,288 feet above sea level—scarcely higher than the city of Denver—the area surrounding Mount Washington is very low in elevation. It rises over 6,100 feet above the surrounding terrain, making it one of most topographically prominent mountains in the United States.

Mount Washington has long been known for its ferocious and unpredictable weather, and particularly high winds. For nearly a century its summit, which is home to a weather station, held the world record for the strongest wind ever recorded (231 mph). To date, the only faster winds recorded on earth have been inside of tornadoes or tropical cyclones.

The rescue is another reminder that—even in the middle of summer—hikers underestimate Mount Washington at their own peril. Even in summer, the peak is prone to dangerous winds and sub-zero temperatures. The mountain averages 25 rescues a year, and has killed more than 150 hikers since record-keeping began in 1849. Check out Backpacker’s guide on how to hike the peak safely.