Hiker rescued off Mt. Washington as temperatures approached freezing

Even if it’s 80 degrees in the valley, it can still be winter on mountain tops.

That’s the message from New Hampshire Fish and Game, which sent rescue crews to help an exhausted hiker off Mt. Washington Thursday night as temperatures dropped. At the time rescuers reached the 43-year-old female hiker from Canada just before midnight, air temperatures were around 33 degrees and winds were gusting to over 60 miles per hour.

“Winter-like conditions still exist in the mountains. The vast majority of the snow has melted, but sub-freezing temperatures still persist on the high, windswept slopes. Anyone venturing into these areas should not only prepare for the conditions while moving and generating heat, but also for sitting still in an exposed area should they become incapacitated,” the department said in a statement.

Fish and Game said they were alerted to a distressed hiker on the upper reaches of the Jewell Trail shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday, June 12. The hiker, Nadia Ouellette from Quebec, Canada, was suffering from extreme exhaustion and having difficulty moving. She was 2.5 miles away from the nearest road and well above the tree line.

Officers used an interpreter provided by 911 to mitigate a language barrier. At 11:47 p.m., rescuers located her. Oullette was found to be cold and suffering from fatigue but was otherwise uninjured. The rescue party remained with Ouellette throughout the night and assisted her in walking out under her own power. 

In a separate incident around noon Thursday, Fish and Game helped a hiker off Cannon Mountain who had sustained a leg injury while descending. Calvin Swanson, 21, of Plymouth had to be carried out on a litter.