More than 20 ill-prepared hikers were rescued from the brutal weather conditions on Mount Washington over one weekend in late October.
While these rescues were successful, New Hampshire authorities warned other hikers attempting to make the trek to be "wildly responsible" and prepare for higher summit conditions before journeying out, per a New Hampshire State Park statement.
Sitting at the "confluence of three major storm tracks," a Mount Washington Observatory release read, Mount Washington is home to some of the worst weather on the planet.
Its geographical location sees frequent storms that produce large amounts of precipitation and attract extreme wind speeds. These factors, along with increased extreme weather events, create an unforgiving environment on the mountain's summit — a challenge many outdoor enthusiasts hope to accomplish.
However, without adequate and appropriate gear, hikers may put themselves and others in danger, as the nearly two-dozen underprepared hikers who had been rescued had done.
According to a WMUR News 9 report, some hikers showed signs of early hypothermia due to insufficient cold-weather gear, prompting rescues by New Hampshire Fish and Game, as well as the Mount Washington Cog Railway, a biodiesel train that climbs to the midpoint of Mount Washington.
Lieutenant Mark Ober of New Hampshire Fish and Game recalled to the news outlet how a group of hikers from Canada had tried to enter the Summit Building wearing sweatpants. The Summit Building was closed for the season, which left hikers desperate for help.
"It's winter on the summit of Mount Washington. At 12 p.m. on October 26, it was 21 degrees with a 30 miles per hour wind," the New Hampshire Fish and Game observed in a public service announcement via Facebook.
The day prior, summit conditions had reached "a bonechilling 15 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit … with a wind chill between minus 5 and 0 degrees," recalled Andy Vilaine, assistant general manager of the Mount Washington Cog Railway, per the New York Post.
Tourists, who are often known to break the rules in the areas they visit, will benefit from heeding the warnings of state authorities and expert outdoor enthusiasts.
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Yep it's fully stocked! 😎 As global weather patterns continue to shift and extreme weather events become more intense, the stakes for both visitors and the mountain's environment, especially during extreme weather, will continue to rise.
"It's literally life or death if they go up there unprepared," Lt. Ober said, per WMUR News 9.
"You can't teach common sense," one commenter wrote under Vilaine's public service announcement regarding the rescues on the Hike the 4000 footers of NH! Facebook page.
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