NEED TO KNOW
- Twenty hikers were caught in severe weather conditions during a hike on Mount Washington in New Hampshire on Saturday, Oct. 25
- Officials with Mount Washington Cog Railway and New Hampshire Fish and Game had to rescue the group after a few hikers were “pleading for a ride down” from the summit
- Due to the snowy weather, the hikers were rescued in various conditions, ranging from exhaustion to hypothermia
A group of 20 hikers was rescued after getting caught in the snowy conditions of Mount Washington in northeast New Hampshire on Saturday, Oct. 25.
The hikers were rescued by the summit’s train, the Mount Washington Cog Railway, according to a Facebook PSA from Mount Washington Cog Railway assistant general manager Andrew Vilaine.
Vilaine tells PEOPLE that the group of 20 hikers consisted of several small groups. He adds that they were unprepared due to inexperience and poor gear choices, a “poor choice of clothing, including non-waterproof layers and sneakers.” He wrote in the PSA that a few of the rescued hikers revealed “it was their first hike ever.”
Vilaine, who was operating the train that day, told WBZ-TV that he discovered the hikers, who were “pleading for a ride down.”
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“Many communicated that they didn’t think they would be able to hike back down and I agreed after assessing some of their conditions and outward appearance,” Vilane told PEOPLE.
Due to the snowy, windy weather, the hikers were rescued in various conditions, with symptoms ranging from exhaustion to hypothermia. Vilaine did not confirm if anyone was transported to the hospital for medical care.
Most of the hikers were “unaware of the full set of winter conditions and the lack of facilities at the summit,” Vilaine said, per WBZ-TV. He tells PEOPLE that although some were “adequately prepared,” they were “exhausted from the hike.”
“We made space for them anywhere we could on our near-sold-out trains,” he said. “Several were replaced in the locomotive cabs with the heat on full blast so they could start to reverse the effects of hypothermia.”
New Hampshire Fish and Game assisted some of the distressed hikers. “It’s literally life or death situation if they go up there unprepared,” Lt. Mark Ober with New Hampshire Fish and Game told WMUR-9.
“People should not be hiking unless they’re fully prepared. Part of that preparation is doing research and finding out what the conditions are,” Ober told the outlet.
PEOPLE has reached out to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Office, the Mount Washington Cog Railway and Andrew Vilain for comment on the rescue.
On the day of the rescue, the temperature on Mount Washington ranged from 29 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, with a wind chill of 2 degrees. There were also winds of 35 mph and 3 to 4 inches of snowfall, per WBZ-TV.
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Vilaine also shared on Facebook that “summits at or certainly above 4,000 feet have full winter conditions.”
A snow and ice covered sign marks the summit of Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
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In Vilaine’s Facebook PSA, he said that many of the hikers were unaware that the state park was closed for the season and as a result, that Summit services would be unavailable.
“Please don’t become a statistic and do your research before venturing out,” he wrote. “Hike Mount Washington like it is any one of the other 48 peaks. Do not assume services or a ride down. The summit is halfway.”
