Two young hikers who lacked headlamps and appropriate clothing and footwear had to be rescue on Mount Mansfield in Vermont last night.
Stowe Mountain Rescue was notified of two hikers who needed to be rescued on the Hellbrook Trail on Mount Mansfield on the evening of Sunday, November 2.
In a Facebook post, members of Stowe Mountain Rescue stated the hikers had achieved the summit, but they had set out late in the day and were missing key components for their hike.
The hikers reportedly had no headlamp. They also reportedly lacked technical clothing and appropriate footwear.
“Cotton hoodies and sweatpants are disastrous in the backcountry – there’s nothing colder than saturated cotton, which will literally freeze solid and provide zero insulation,” stated the Stowe Mountain Rescue Facebook post. “You wouldn’t know it from conditions in the valley, but it is winter up there, with 6-8 inches of snow on the trail. Four-season hiking boots are essential, with microspikes for the ice.”
Members of Stowe Mountain Rescue stated in their post that they recognized that young, inexperienced hikers will make mistakes like these, and added this incident will be a valuable learning experience.
“The good news is that these young people had the vision to climb a mountain and they have long lives ahead of them,” stated the post. “Last night will have taught them a lot about how to prepare for a backcountry adventure. If they’d been carrying the right gear they would’ve got away with it.”
