Hikers Trapped in Waist-Deep Snow Rescued from Mount Washington During Blizzard Conditions

The two friends had traversed the demanding Mount Washington trail in New Hampshire a month prior. They decided to return for another hike on Sunday after exploring nearby peaks in the White Mountains. Both experienced hikers, the women found themselves an hour behind schedule during their descent with daylight fading, yet they had adequate warm clothing, headlamps, and other essential gear.

Suddenly, the wind picked up. The temperature plummeted. They were engulfed in waist-deep snow with whiteout conditions surrounding them. They were disoriented on the highest mountain in the Northeast, famous for its volatile weather patterns.

“That snow has nothing to cling to,” explained Amy Cotter, a weather observer and education specialist at the Mount Washington Observatory, which sits at an elevation of 6,288 feet. “The snow can be easily whipped up.”

One of Kathryn McKee’s snowshoes got caught in a “spruce trap,” a depression formed in the snow beneath trees.

“It took about 20 minutes to free myself,” she recounted in an interview with The Associated Press. “And this kept happening. Eventually, we found ourselves literally crawling on our bellies to try to reach the next point, struggling so much that it wasn’t working.”

After an hour of attempts to navigate themselves, McKee, 51, from Southborough, Massachusetts, and Beata LeLacheur, 54, from Westborough, Massachusetts, called 911. They were connected to New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers, who plotted their GPS coordinates and guided them toward the trail—just 34 feet away.

However, it didn’t lead to their rescue.

“They found themselves on the trail multiple times but were unable to follow it, as it had been utterly covered by wind and snow,” noted Sgt. Matthew Holmes from the Fish and Game Department. After various attempts to locate the trail and several phone calls starting around 6 p.m., “the two had to huddle together in the snow to keep warm while waiting for help,” he added.

The temperature at the summit was recorded at 2 degrees Fahrenheit below zero (minus 19 degrees Celsius), with continuous winds of 50 to 60 mph, Holmes stated.

McKee and LeLacheur were stranded at an altitude of approximately 5,000 feet.

McKee reported that although she wore gloves with liners, she still lost the use of her hands because of the cold.

“I reached into my first aid kit to grab the emergency blanket and extra hand warmers,” she recounted. “I couldn’t open the chest because my hands were frozen.”

The two remained in the harsh wind for about six hours.

“I was terrified that my friend could die in front of me, and I might also perish,” McKee reflected. “It made me question how we ended up in this situation. However, you can’t dwell on those thoughts because they won’t help you survive. We kept asking ourselves what the next step should be.”

They fashioned a wind guard by using a bag. McKee wrapped herself in a covering meant for sleeping mats and bags.

“At that point, I was buried in snow, which acted as an insulator. This helped somewhat, but it also left me immobile,” she explained.

Late Sunday, the Mount Washington State Park snowcat, a vehicle similar to those used for grooming ski resorts, made its way up the mountain’s auto road with nine rescuers and reached the summit just before midnight. The team began to navigate through the snow, heading towards the hikers’ last indicated location at 1:20 a.m. on Monday but had not yet encountered them.

“The only method to locate the trail was by using GPS navigation, and progress was slow due to the immense effort needed to break through the deep snow,” Holmes stated.

McKee and LeLacheur were discovered half an hour later, having suffered frostbite primarily on their hands.

Rescue crews established emergency shelters for the hikers, and by 3 a.m. on Monday, they were able to move unaided. By 4:15 a.m., both the rescuers and hikers began their descent to the Cog Railway base station, where a locomotive-led train ascends to the peak.

Holmes mentioned that both women were appropriately equipped for a winter hike, possessed emergency gear, and had prior winter hiking experience. Yet, they did not anticipate losing the trail. McKee and LeLacheur had received hiking training from the Worcester chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club in Massachusetts.

“We feel terrible about having to make that call to 911, but it truly saved our lives, and we are eternally grateful,” McKee expressed regarding their rescuers.

Both women affirmed they’d venture hiking again in the White Mountains and plan to include a small pop-up tent in their gear for emergencies.

“You either get back on the horse, or you don’t,” McKee remarked. “I’m not going to shy away from getting back on that horse. I will do so as safely as possible, recognizing the risks involved in our pursuits.”

By Kathy McCormack and Michael Casey