Accident Report: Hikers Benighted on Wildcat Ridge
Appalachia, December 2001
On March 4, 2001, Mark Iaconis, 37, of North Attleboro, Mass., Guy LaChance, 38, of Rehoboth, Mass., and Paul Saariaho, 37, of Attleboro, Mass., attempted to ascend the Wildcat Ridge Trail from Pinkham Notch. LaChance and Saariaho had limited winter hiking experience, while Iaconis had none. They intended to ski down the trails of the Wildcat Mountain Ski Area, and so were carrying their skis on this often very steep trail. However, they had only two pair of snowshoes among the three of them, and carried no lights or overnight equipment; they had inadequate boots (particularly Iaconis).
After being overtaken by darkness, having found the trip much more difficult than they expected, they started to panic, discarded their ski equipment, and took shelter in the trees. Here they were able to start a fire. At 9:30 p.m. they reported their situation by cell phone, stating that one of them had frozen feet (this proved not to be the case). Their position proved to be less than a quarter-mile from the ski area summit station and only 80 yards from the Wildcat Valley Cross-Country Ski Trail; they even saw the grooming machine go by. They were escorted out by a conservation officer and given a ride down the mountain. They were charged $900 in rescue costs.
Source: Littleton Courier, March 15, 2001 (Mike Dickerman)
Analysis
This group was seriously unprepared for a winter trip, but the critical factor was their lack of knowledge of the strenuousness of the Wildcat Ridge Trail section from Glen Ellis Falls to the ski area summit station. Because of its general steepness and a number of tricky pitches, it is one of the more strenuous trails in the Whites and one of the most difficult in winter if snow is deep, as it was last winter. For that reason, most hikers who are trying to "bag" the two official 4,000-foot peaks of Wildcat in winter avoid this trail and instead snowshoe up the northern edge of the ski trails.
Under normal conditions, that section of the Wildcat Ridge Trail is so strenuous and time-consuming that hikers ascending it would seldom have the time or energy to make the trip over to the main peak of Wildcat and back. This group, with the encumbrance of carrying skis and short a pair of snowshoes, had little chance of success.
In winter, one always needs to consider the time and energy demands of each possible route—steep trails, particularly when one is snowshoeing in deep snow and constantly slipping downhill as the snow compacts under one's weight, can demand several times as much effort as trails with moderate grades.
Editor's Note: The preceding is a sample of the many accident reports author Gene Daniell provides in each issue of Appalachia.
—Gene Daniell has been the author of AMC's White Mountain Guide since 1982 and the secretary of the Four Thousand Footer Club since 1984.
