MOUNT WASHINGTON, N.H. — It was the Mount Washington Cog Railway to the rescue on Saturday, Oct. 25. The railroad transported more than 20 hikers, who were not prepared for conditions, from atop New Hampshire’s Mount Washington back to the base of the mountain. A number of the group were showing signs of hypothermia when they came aboard the cog train.
The hikers, says Andy Vilaine, assistant general manager for the Mount Washington Cog Railway, were not dressed in clothing suited for the winter conditions encountered at the 6,288-foot summit. Some were wearing non-waterproof layers and had sneakers for foot gear. The hikers indicated they were not aware that summit services and the state park were closed for the season. A number of the group stated it was the first time they had been hiking.
Temperatures at the Mount Washington summit on Saturday ranged from 15 to 18 degrees, with wind chills dropping to minus 5 and zero degrees.
The train was heading to the summit as normal when crew members discovered “several distressed hikers,” Vilaine said in a statement to ABC News. The train crew began bringing the hikers on board, making space for them anywhere they could. Several of the group were placed in the locomotive cabs “with the heat on full-blast so they could start to reverse the effects of hypothermia,” Vilaine says.
“Had we not been able to assist the hikers with the one-way ride, there is little doubt in my mind that several more complex rescue efforts may have needed to be undertaken,” Vilaine told ABC News.
The Mount Washington Cog Railway began construction in 1866. Grades average 25% on the 3 mile climb to the summit, with a maximum grade of 37%. The train runs on a rack-and-pinion system to hold its position traveling both up and down grade. Due to weather conditions, the Mount Washington State Park and the railroad’s summit facilities close from late October through early May.
