Rescuers save lives of experienced hikers stranded in deep snow on Mount Washington

By Juli McDonald

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    NORTH CONWAY, New Hampshire (WBZ) — A Massachusetts woman is recovering from frostbite after she and her hiking partner were overwhelmed by snow and wind on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington.

Kathryn McKee tells WBZ-TV there was a terrifying moment when she realized they couldn’t survive on their own.

“It started like any other hike, we were out on the trail by 7:30,” McKee said. “Our goal that day was to hike Mount Monroe and Mount Jefferson. It was going to be a challenging day.”

But despite their experience, McKee and her hiking partner had no idea just how challenging. The women, who both live in central Massachusetts, were prepared and made it past their turnaround points.

Then, early Sunday evening in windy conditions, they struggled to find the trail as they were 5,000 feet up the mountain.

“What would happen is we were walking along and then we’d dip, and then you’re chest-high. And a couple times our snowshoes would get stuck on the spruce trees and you have no way of getting them out,” McKee said. “And you’re rocking back and forth 20 minutes doing this, you’re exhausting yourself.”

The women were in contact with New Hampshire Fish and Game but tried for hours before they knew they needed help.

“I lost functionality in my fingers. I couldn’t feel and I couldn’t use them. I couldn’t open the Ziploc bag to get an emergency blanket out,” McKee said.

Once the rescue plan was launched, from start to finish it took highly skilled crews nearly 12 hours to reach the women, warm them, assess their injuries and bring them to safety.

“It was the most organized, on top of a mountain with -2 degrees, 50 to 60 mph winds and they just knocked it out of the ballpark and got me warmed in an hour, and we were walking out of there,” McKee said. “That was amazing. They are amazing.”

Fish & Game said without the women’s appropriate gear and winter hiking experience from Appalachian Mountain Group Worcester, it’s unlikely they would’ve survived.

“Mother Nature has the final say, and preparedness, above all, is the difference between life and death in the mountains of New Hampshire,” the agency said in a statement.

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