Hiker Describes 11-hour Ordeal After Falling on Mount Washington, Admits He Was ‘Underprepared’

New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officer Levi Frye (L) and Jeremy Broughton, from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue, prepare to head out on a rescue mission at the Cog Railway base station in Mount Washington, N.H., on Feb. 17, 2024. Sgt. Glen Lucas/New Hampshire Fish and Game via AP

MEREDITH, N.H.—As temperatures plunged on Mount Washington and ferocious winds made it near impossible to see, hiker Cole Matthes began to drift away from the trail. Then he hit a patch of snow-covered ice and slid hundreds of feet down a ravine.

His fall Saturday sparked a rescue mission that would last 11 hours, utilize the mountain’s famed Cog Railway and prompt harsh criticism from rescuers, who said the hiker made “numerous poor decisions” in preparing for the hike and then deciding to push on.