List of people who died on the Presidential Range facts for kids

Mount Washington from Intervale, with Huntington Ravine visible on the right of the image

Sign posted by the US Forest Service in the Presidential Range of the White Mountain National Forest warning of the dangerous conditions beyond.

The Presidential Range in the White Mountains of New Hampshire consist of a series of mountains whose maximum elevation reaches 6,288 feet (1,917 m) and represent some of the highest mountains in the United States east of the Mississippi River. Fatalities in this area are dominated by those that occur on Mount Washington, the highest peak in the range. It is notorious for its unpredictable and inclement weather, making it one of the deadliest mountains in the continental United States. Due to its unique location relative to other geographic features, it holds the world record for highest recorded surface wind speed not within a tropical cyclone. Huntington Ravine, on the mountain's eastern face, has been classified by local search and rescue teams as the most dangerous hike in the White Mountains due to high exposure and steep rock climbs and scrambles over cliff faces.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department conducts an average of 200 rescues a year for hikers in need of assistance. Mt. Washington itself has had more fatalities per vertical foot than any other mountain in the world, and has been listed among the ten deadliest mountains in the world.

Fatalities

The following table lists 174 known fatalities and missing persons within the Presidential Range. Many fatalities occur during spring, autumn and winter, particularly when the weather in the surrounding lower elevations is slightly above average for the season.

Name	Date	Age	State or country of origin	Cause of death	Location	Mountain	Ref(s)
Strickland, FrederickFrederick Strickland	October 19, 1849	29	United Kingdom	Hypothermia	Clay Brook	Washington
Bourne, LizzieLizzie Bourne	September 13, 1855	23	Maine	Hypothermia	Summit	Washington
Chandler, BenjaminBenjamin Chandler	August 7, 1856	75	Delaware	Hypothermia	Summit	Washington
Thompson, J. M.J. M. Thompson	October 4, 1869	Unknown	New Hampshire	Drowning	Peabody River	N/A
Stevens, WilliamWilliam Stevens	February 26, 1872	Unknown	Unknown	Natural Causes	Summit	Washington
Seely, WilliamWilliam Seely	July 3, 1873	29	New York	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Hunter, Harry W.Harry W. Hunter	September 3, 1874	21	Pennsylvania	Hypothermia	Summit	Washington
Chichester, Ann M IvesAnn M Ives Chichester	July 3, 1880	Unknown	Michigan	Accident	Mount Washington Carriage Road	Washington
Faunce, SewallSewall Faunce	July 24, 1886	15	Massachusetts	Falling snow arch	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Weiss, EwaldEwald Weiss	August 24, 1890	24	Germany	Missing	Unknown	Washington
Curtis, William BuckinghamWilliam Buckingham Curtis	June 30, 1900	63	New York	Hypothermia	Lakes of the Clouds	Washington
Ormsbee, AllanAllan Ormsbee	June 30, 1900	28	New York	Hypothermia	Summit	Washington
Cusick, AlexanderAlexander Cusick	August 23, 1900	Unknown	Vermont	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Keenan, JohnJohn Keenan	September 18, 1912	18	Massachusetts	Missing	Summit	Washington
Clauson, HarryHarry Clauson	August 5, 1919	19	Massachusetts	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Lonigan, JackJack Lonigan	August 5, 1919	21	Massachusetts	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Harriman	November 1927	Unknown	Unknown	Drowning	Jefferson Brook	N/A
Lyman, ElmerElmer Lyman	April 1928	Unknown	New Hampshire	Hypothermia	Pinkham Notch	Washington
Young, Herbert J.Herbert J. Young	December 1, 1928	18	Missouri	Hypothermia	Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail	Washington
Rossiter, DanielDaniel Rossiter	July 20, 1929	Unknown	Massachusetts	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Kladstad, OystenOysten Kladstad	July 30, 1929	Unknown	New York	Drowning	Dry River	N/A
Bigelow Jr., Henry B.Henry B. Bigelow Jr.	September 18, 1931	19	Massachusetts	Falling ice	Huntington Ravine	Washington
McAdams, Ernest W.Ernest W. McAdams	January 31, 1932	22	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Cog Railway	Washington
Chadwick, Joseph B.Joseph B. Chadwick	January 31, 1932	22	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Cog Railway route	Washington
Joseph, SimonSimon Joseph	June 18, 1933	19	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Old Crawford Path	Washington
Marden, RupertRupert Marden	November 11, 1933	21	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Pierce, Jerome R.Jerome R. Pierce	September 9, 1934	17	Vermont	Drowning	Peabody River	N/A
Fowler, John W.John W. Fowler	April 1, 1936	19	New York	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Sturgess, GraceGrace Sturgess	May 23, 1936	24	Massachusetts	Falling ice	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Wheeler, Harry A.Harry A. Wheeler	July 4, 1937	55	Massachusetts	Heart attack	Caps Ridge Trail	Jefferson
Caggiano, JosephJoseph Caggiano	August 24, 1938	17	New York	Hypothermia	Gulfside Trail	Adams
McIntire, EdwinEdwin McIntire	June 9, 1940	19	New Jersey	Fall into a crevasse	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Haberland, Louis CarlLouis Carl Haberland	October 13, 1941	27	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Caps Ridge Trail	Jefferson
Neal, JohnJohn Neal	April 7, 1943	Unknown	Massachusetts	Injury while skiing the Little Headwall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Wilbur, PhyllisPhyllis Wilbur	June 3, 1948	16	Maine	Injuries sustained from fall while skiing	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Schiller, PaulPaul Schiller	May 1, 1949	Unknown	Massachusetts	Fall while skiing on Headwall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Staver, TorTor Staver	February 2, 1952	Unknown	Norway	Injuries sustained from fall while skiing	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Davis, RaymondRaymond Davis	August 23, 1952	50	Massachusetts	Hypothermia after collapse due to illness	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Longnecker, PhilipPhilip Longnecker	January 31, 1954	25	Ohio	Avalanche / Hypothermia	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Parysko, JacquesJacques Parysko	January 31, 1954	23	Massachusetts	Avalanche / Hypothermia	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Leve, AaronAaron Leve	February 19, 1956	28	Canada /  Massachusetts	Avalanche	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Flint, ThomasThomas Flint	June 2, 1956	21	Massachusetts	Fall	Unknown	Madison
Ochab, John J.John J. Ochab	September 1, 1956	37	New Jersey	Fall	Unknown	Clay
Brigham, WilliamWilliam Brigham	May 17, 1958	28	Quebec	Falling ice	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Zanet, PaulPaul Zanet	July 19, 1958	24	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Crawford Path	Washington
March, JudyJudy March	July 19, 1958	17	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Crawford Path	Washington
Amico, AnthonyAnthony Amico	August 22, 1959	44	Massachusetts	Heart attack	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Falardeau, ArmandArmand Falardeau	June 2, 1962	42	Connecticut	Hypothermia	Clay Loop Trail	Clay
Dickinson, Alfred K.Alfred K. Dickinson	September 12, 1962	67	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Nelson Crag	Washington
Stadtmueller, HugoHugo Stadtmueller	April 4, 1964	28	Massachusetts	Avalanche	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Griffin, JohnJohn Griffin	April 4, 1964	39	Massachusetts	Avalanche	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Bourdages, Remi J.Remi J. Bourdages	May 3, 1964	38	Massachusetts	Heart attack	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Doody, DanielDaniel Doody	March 14, 1965	31	Connecticut	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Merrihue, CraigCraig Merrihue	March 14, 1965	32	Massachusetts	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Davies, EricEric Davies	September 17, 1967	7	New Hampshire	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Frank, MaryMary Frank	September 17, 1967	38	Michigan	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Gross, MonicaMonica Gross	September 17, 1967	2	Massachusetts	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Zorzy, ShirleyShirley Zorzy	September 17, 1967	22	Massachusetts	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Richmond, BeverlyBeverly Richmond	September 17, 1967	15	Connecticut	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Woodard, KentKent Woodard	September 17, 1967	9	New Hampshire	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Usher, CharlesCharles Usher	September 17, 1967	55	New Hampshire	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Usher, EstherEsther Usher	September 17, 1967	56	New Hampshire	Accident	Cog Railway	Washington
Stevens, ScottScott Stevens	January 26, 1969	19	California	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Ellenberg, RobertRobert Ellenberg	January 26, 1969	19	New York	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Yoder, CharlesCharles Yoder	January 26, 1969	24	Wisconsin	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Larner, MarkMark Larner	February 9, 1969	17	New York	Fall	Unknown	Adams
Tenney, Albert R.Albert R. Tenney	1969	62	Unknown	Natural causes	Crawford Path	Jackson
Fitzgerald, RichardRichard Fitzgerald	October 12, 1969	26	Massachusetts	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Ross, PaulPaul Ross	November 29, 1969	26	Maine	Plane crash	Boott Spur	Washington
Ward, KennethKenneth Ward	November 29, 1969	20	Maine	Plane crash	Boott Spur	Washington
Phillips, CliffCliff Phillips	November 29, 1969	26	Vermont	Plane crash	Boott Spur	Washington
Hennessey, IreneIrene Hennessey	March 21, 1971	47	Unknown	Plane crash	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Hennessey, ThomasThomas Hennessey	March 21, 1971	54	Unknown	Plane crash	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Palmer, BarbaraBarbara Palmer	April 24, 1971	47	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Cog Railway	Washington
Roberts, BetsyBetsy Roberts	August 28, 1971	16	Massachusetts	Drowning	Dry River	N/A
Bowdoin, GeoffreyGeoffrey Bowdoin	October 10, 1971	18	Massachusetts	Drowning	Dry River	N/A
Coyne, ChristopherChristopher Coyne	May 17, 1972	21	Connecticut	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Thaler, RichardRichard Thaler	September 23, 1972	49	Massachusetts	Heart attack	King Ravine Trail	Adams
Winn, PeterPeter Winn	April 21, 1973	16	New Hampshire	Fall while skiing	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Titcomb, VernonVernon Titcomb	August 22, 1974	56	California	Plane crash	Gray Knob	Adams
Titcomb, JohnJohn Titcomb	August 22, 1974	53	California	Plane crash	Gray Knob	Adams
Brushaber, KarlKarl Brushaber	December 23, 1974	37	Michigan	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Rock, ClaytonClayton Rock	October 23, 1975	80	Massachusetts	Heart attack	Lakes of the Clouds	Washington
Cassidy, Marguerite SnyderMarguerite Snyder Cassidy	March 26, 1976	24	New Hampshire	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Whinnery, ScottScott Whinnery	May 8, 1976	25	New York	Fall in Hillman's Highway	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Evans, RobertRobert Evans	July 12, 1976	22	Michigan	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Shoemaker, DavidDavid Shoemaker	February 14, 1979	21	Massachusetts	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Flanigan, PaulPaul Flanigan	February 14, 1979	26	Massachusetts	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Saad, GaryGary Saad	August 6, 1979	26	Connecticut	Fall	Webster Cliff Trail	Webster
Kelly, PatrickPatrick Kelly	August 21, 1980	24	Connecticut	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
LaBonte, CharlesCharles LaBonte	October 12, 1980	16	Massachusetts	Fall	Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail	Washington
Dowd, JamesJames Dowd	October 13, 1980	43	Massachusetts	Heart attack	Tuckerman Ravine Trail	Washington
Friedman, PeterPeter Friedman	December 31, 1980	18	Connecticut	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Coleman, MylesMyles Coleman	August 8, 1981	73	New York	Stroke	Summit	Washington
Dow, AlbertAlbert Dow	January 25, 1982	28	New Hampshire	Avalanche	Lion Head Trail	Washington
Hamann, KathyKathy Hamann	March 28, 1982	25	Connecticut	Fall while climbing ravine	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Fox, JohnJohn Fox	May 15, 1982	47	Vermont	Stroke	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Aalbue, EdwardEdward Aalbue	January 1, 1983	21	New York	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Hokenson, KennethKenneth Hokenson	March 24, 1983	23	New York	Fall	Raymond Cataract	Washington
Brockman, MarkMark Brockman	March 27, 1983	19	Massachusetts	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine Trail	Washington
Silva, PaulaPaula Silva	July 30, 1984	22	Massachusetts	Automobile crash	Mount Washington Auto Road	Washington
Heimsoth, ErnstErnst Heimsoth	August 22, 1984	88	Vermont	Heart attack	Summit	Washington
Goodridge, BasilBasil Goodridge	March 15, 1986	56	Vermont	Heart attack	Castle Trail	Jefferson
Jones, RobertRobert Jones	April 5, 1986	53	Maine	Heart attack	Tuckerman Ravine Trail	Washington
Barr, McDonaldMcDonald Barr	August 24, 1986	52	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Unknown	Madison
Costa, Edwin B.Edwin B. Costa	June 3, 1990	39	New Hampshire	Fall	Great Gulf	Washington
Jones, JimmyJimmy Jones	October 2, 1990	34	Texas	Plane crash	Great Gulf	Washington
Diedrick, RussellRussell Diedrick	October 2, 1990	24	Texas	Plane crash	Great Gulf	Washington
Eames, StewartStewart Eames	October 2, 1990	27	Texas	Plane crash	Great Gulf	Washington
Smith, ThomasThomas Smith	February 24, 1991	41	Vermont	Avalanche	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Nichols, LouisLouis Nichols	January 27, 1992	46	New Hampshire	Hypothermia	Cog Railway	Washington
Rimini, GeorgeGeorge Rimini	August 12, 1992	65	North Carolina	Heart attack	Alpine Garden	Washington
Tinkham, DerekDerek Tinkham	January 15, 1994	20	Rhode Island	Hypothermia	Summit	Jefferson
Couper, MonroeMonroe Couper	February 26, 1994	40	New Jersey	Hypothermia	Alpine Garden	Washington
Lattey, ErickErick Lattey	February 26, 1994	28	New Jersey	Hypothermia	Alpine Garden	Washington
Weingarten, CherylCheryl Weingarten	May 1, 1994	22	New York	Fall into a crevasse while sliding	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Nicholson, SarahSarah Nicholson	June 4, 1994	25	Maine	Falling ice	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Hastings, RonaldRonald Hastings	October 8, 1994	63	New Hampshire	Natural causes	Summit	Washington
Schneider, ChristopherChristopher Schneider	March 28, 1995	31	Vermont	Fall while skiing in Hillman's Highway	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Cassan, AlexandreAlexandre Cassan	January 5, 1996	19	Quebec	Avalanche	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Cote, DonaldDonald Cote	February 2, 1996	48	Massachusetts	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Halpern, NicholasNicholas Halpern	February 25, 1996	50	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Mt. Pleasant Brook	Eisenhower
Vandel, RobertRobert Vandel	March 2, 1996	50	Maine	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Crumbaker, ToddTodd Crumbaker	March 24, 1996	35	Massachusetts	Avalanche	Gulf of Slides	Washington
Wald, JohnJohn Wald	March 24, 1996	35	Massachusetts	Avalanche	Gulf of Slides	Washington
Carmody, StephenStephen Carmody	September 27, 1997	29	Connecticut	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Gringas, JohnJohn Gringas	May 29, 1999	44	Connecticut	Natural causes	Summit	Washington
Thompson, Douglas FolgerDouglas Folger Thompson	October 30, 1999	66	New Hampshire	Natural causes	Summit	Madison
McPhedran, DavidDavid McPhedran	February 20, 2000	42	Maine	Avalanche	Gulf of Slides	Washington
Green, NedNed Green	February 18, 2001	26	New Hampshire	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Manion, HillaryHillary Manion	June 3, 2001	22	Ontario	Fall while skiing in The Chute	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Chaput, LouiseLouise Chaput	November 15, 2001	52	Quebec	Murder	Glen Boulder Trail	Washington
Luquette, WilliamWilliam Luquette	July 22, 2002	46	New Hampshire	Heart attack	Crawford Path	Pierce
Busher, PeterPeter Busher	September 11, 2002	71	Virginia	Hypothermia	Gulfside Trail	Madison
Callahan, WilliamWilliam Callahan	September 29, 2002	57	Georgia	Natural causes	Unknown	Unknown
Sandberg, ScottScott Sandberg	November 29, 2002	32	Massachusetts	Avalanche	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Burke, ThomasThomas Burke	November 29, 2002	46	New Hampshire	Avalanche	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Gaumond, JasonJason Gaumond	January 27, 2004	28	Massachusetts	Fall	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Douglas, RobRob Douglas	March 7, 2004	39	Vermont	Fall	Great Gulf	Clay
Moreau, JeanJean Moreau	August 4, 2006	50	Quebec	Natural causes	Davis Path	Washington
Race, KevinKevin Race	September 9, 2007	46	Maine	Missing	Hermit Lake	Washington
Roux, PeterPeter Roux	January 18, 2008	39	Tennessee	Avalanche	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Shintani, PeterPeter Shintani	June 9, 2009	70	Ontario	Hypothermia	Lion Head Trail	Washington
West, PaulPaul West	August 8, 2009	65	Massachusetts	Automobile crash	Mount Washington Auto Road	Washington
Walczak, WieslawWieslaw Walczak	November 21, 2009	62	New Hampshire	Fall off the Headwall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Baillie, ChristopherChristopher Baillie	July 18, 2010	24	New Jersey	Fall off the Headwall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Powers, Patrick ScottPatrick Scott Powers	January 9, 2012	46	Massachusetts	Fall off the Headwall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Priebatsch, NormanNorman Priebatsch	April 1, 2012	67	Massachusetts	Fall into a crevasse	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Muise, GaryGary Muise	August 13, 2012	57	Massachusetts	Natural causes	Huntington Ravine	Washington
Gabrielle, RichardRichard Gabrielle	January 26, 2013	64	Texas	Fall	Great Gully, King's Ravine	Adams
Watts, JamesJames Watts	March 1, 2013	24	New York	Fall	Pinnacle Gully, Huntington Ravine	Washington
Paquette, LucLuc Paquette	September 19, 2013	25	Quebec	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine Trail	Washington
Fernandez, RobertRobert Fernandez	October 12, 2013	69	Maine	Heart attack	Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail	Washington
Larson, GregoryGregory Larson	August 29, 2014	63	Maine	Heart attack	Caps Ridge Trail	Jefferson
Matrosova, KateKate Matrosova	February 15, 2015	32	New York	Hypothermia	Star Lake Trail	Adams
Rippeon, Vernon R.Vernon R. Rippeon	June 21, 2015	51	Maryland	Heart attack	Crawford Path	Pierce
Hallock, TimTim Hallock	February 28, 2016	54	New York	Hypothermia	Castle Ravine Trail	Jefferson
Carrier, FrancoisFrancois Carrier	May 9, 2016	47	Quebec	Hypothermia	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington
Libby, RickRick Libby	October 15, 2016	62	New Hampshire	Natural causes	Caps Ridge Trail	Jefferson
Auriemma, GregoryGregory Auriemma	July 20, 2017	63	New Jersey	Unknown	Isolation Trail	Pierce
Diamon, RolfRolf Diamon	September 16, 2017	66	Maine	Natural causes	Lion Head Trail	Washington
Ullmann, JeremyJeremy Ullmann	February 10, 2019	37	Massachusetts	Fall	Central Gully, Huntington Ravine	Washington
Sou, Porith StephonPorith Stephon Sou	March 8, 2019	21	Massachusetts	Missing	Lion Head Winter Route	Washington
Benedix, NicholasNicholas Benedix	April 10, 2019	32	New Hampshire	Avalanche	Raymond Cataract	Washington
Lee, SandraSandra Lee	June 13, 2019	63	New Jersey	Hypothermia	Tuckerman Ravine Trail	Washington
Gormley, Joseph M.Joseph M. Gormley	September 12, 2020	60	Massachusetts	Unknown	Summit	Jefferson
Forgays, IanIan Forgays	February 1, 2021	54	Vermont	Avalanche	Ammonoosuc Ravine	Washington
McClelland, TimothyTimothy McClelland	August 14, 2021	66	Connecticut	Natural causes	Jewell Trail	Washington
Chen, XiXi Chen	June 18, 2022	53	Massachusetts	Hypothermia	Gulfside Trail	Clay
John R. Quick Jr.	July 30, 2022	65	Missouri	Hypothermia	Jewell Trail	Washington
Yanick Belanger	August 25, 2022	46	Quebec	Heart attack	Summit	Washington
Jason Apreku	August 11, 2023	21	Pennsylvania	Unknown	Osgood Trail	Madison
Saltsburg, MadisonMadison Saltsburg	March 9, 2024	20	Pennsylvania	Fall	Tuckerman Ravine	Washington