Two friends recently undertook the challenging hike of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, retracing their steps from a previous hike a month earlier. After navigating nearby peaks in the White Mountains, the pair found themselves an hour late on their descent and began to lose daylight. Equipped with warm clothing, headlamps, and appropriate gear, they felt prepared.
However, the weather suddenly worsened. Wind gusts picked up, temperatures dropped significantly, and they encountered waist-deep snow combined with intense whiteout conditions. The harsh environment had caused them to lose their way on the tallest mountain in the Northeast, notorious for its unpredictable weather.
“The snow has nothing to adhere to,” explained Amy Cotter, an observer and educator with the Mount Washington Observatory, which sits at an elevation of 6,288 feet (1,916 meters). “The snow can be easily raised by the wind.”
An incident involving a “spruce trap”—a hole beneath the snow caused by the presence of trees—hampered progress when one of the hikers, Kathryn McKee, found her snowshoe caught. “It took me nearly 20 minutes to get out,” she recounted. “That kept happening, and we ultimately found ourselves crawling on our bellies, struggling to reach the next landmark.”
After exhausting attempts at self-rescue for around an hour, McKee, 51, from Southborough, Massachusetts, and her hiking partner Beata LeLacheur, 54, from Westborough, decided to call for help. They contacted the New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers, who used their GPS coordinates to guide them back to the trail—just 34 feet (10 meters) away.
Unfortunately, this guidance proved unhelpful. “They managed to reach the trail multiple times, yet could not maintain their path as it had been completely covered by wind and snow,” stated Sgt. Matthew Holmes from the Fish and Game Department. After several communications starting around 6 p.m., McKee and LeLacheur were forced to stay huddled in the snow for warmth while awaiting assistance.
At the summit, temperatures plummeted to 2 degrees below zero (minus 19 Celsius), with sustained winds of 50 to 60 mph (80 to 96 kph). McKee and LeLacheur found themselves stranded at around 5,000 feet (1,524 meters). McKee mentioned that despite wearing gloves, her hands became too cold to function.
“I attempted to access my first aid kit for an emergency blanket and extra hand warmers, but I couldn’t open the compartment due to frozen fingers,” she noted. The two women endured harsh winds for roughly six hours.
“I was terrified that my friend might die in front of me, or that I might pass away myself. It raised questions about how we ended up in this situation,” McKee shared. “However, I knew that dwelling on those thoughts wouldn’t help us. We kept thinking about the next action we could take.”
To shield against the wind, McKee and LeLacheur fashioned a barrier from a bag, while McKee wrapped herself in a covering intended for sleeping mats. “I was covered in snow, which acted as an insulator, but it also restricted my movement,” she explained.
As night set in on Sunday, a rescue team comprising nine individuals and a snowcat vehicle made their way up the auto road of Mount Washington, reaching the summit just before midnight. They began snowshoeing through the difficult terrain to locate the hikers, arriving at their last known position at 1:20 a.m. Monday without immediate contact.
“Using GPS navigation was the only way to find the trail, and progress was slow due to the difficulty of breaking through deep snow,” Holmes clarified. The two women were ultimately located about thirty minutes later, suffering from frostbite, mostly in their hands.
Emergency shelters were established for them, and by 3 a.m. Monday, they regained enough warmth to move independently. The rescue team, alongside McKee and LeLacheur, made their descent to the Cog Railway base station by 4:15 a.m.
Holmes pointed out that both women had adequately prepared for a winter hike, carrying the necessary emergency gear and possessing experience in winter conditions. They did not anticipate losing the trail; both had trained with the Appalachian Mountain Club in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Reflecting on their experience, McKee conveyed gratitude for being rescued, noting the difficulty of calling 911, but acknowledging it ultimately saved their lives. Both expressed eagerness to hike again in the White Mountains and consider adding a pop-up tent to their future gear for potential emergency situations.
“You can either get back on the horse, or not,” McKee said. “I’m resolute about getting back out there, taking precautions while recognizing the risks involved in our activities.”
