The volunteers behind New Hampshire’s search and rescue efforts spend a lot of their time saving the lives of both experts and novices who enter the wilderness.

As winter approaches, these crews are about to enter the deadliest part of the year. Unlike in summer months, a leg injury or missed trail marker can quickly become a life-threatening situation in freezing temperatures. While some experienced hikers and skiers do find themselves in trouble, the vast majority of search and rescue missions happen when confidence displaces reason.

Just this week, a “woefully unprepared” hiker from Virginia arrived at the summit of Mount Washington with his dog in freezing conditions while trying to beat an incoming storm. He was told before he left it was “not advisable to hike,” but he went anyway, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Throughout the year, organizations like Fish and Game, Mount Washington Avalanche Center, and the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue try to educate the public about good decision-making with as much energy as they can muster.

“It’s not the gear that will keep you out of trouble, it’s the right mindset,” said Jeffrey Fongemie, director of the avalanche center.

Fongemie has watched countless hikers and skiers head into Mt. Washington without the proper gear, or with a dose of confidence unhealthy for the wild. The avalanche center, the Mount Washington Observatory and the Appalachian Mountain Club work to provide necessary information — the weather, the intensity of specific hikes, even the necessary gear — to prospective explorers so they can prevent disaster before it happens. For better or worse, the mountains remain open to all, no matter the conditions.

“No one wants to restrict the wild, everyone should have access,” said Jay Broccolo, the director of weather operations at the observatory.

The observatory publishes a higher summits forecast to give critical information about weather conditions above treeline. Even on mild days, the conditions at the top of a remote mountain can be deadly.

“It’s all about being prepared and checking your ego at the door,” Broccolo said.

In New Hampshire, if you type “4,000 footers” into Google, the search engine will point to checklists for hikers to knock off each of the state’s 48 tallest mountains. Broccolo cited social media and its promotion of trends as a key reason for increasing irresponsibility in the woods. The picture of a calm summit on a sunny day on Facebook or Instagram can lure thrill seekers and peak baggers who quickly discover the harsh realities of sub-zero temperatures and howling force winds and then call 911 for help.

“Humans are the most dangerous things in our woods,” Fongemie said.

In 2023, the state logged 183 search and rescue missions, according to Lt. Mark Ober of New Hampshire Fish and Game, which is right around the average. Recently, search and rescue calls that do not warrant a mission have ranged between 130 and 190 per year.

The biggest challenge for people like Ober, or Will Murphy, president of Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue, is telling the difference between a real emergency that requires rescue or just someone who is panicked and can get themselves out. Sometimes, Ober gets phone calls from hikers who forgot to pack headlamps and are afraid to set up camp in the dark. Sometimes the hikers had thought they would be done with their journey by nightfall, and didn’t prepare for the woods. Maybe they didn’t pack any food. Those calls are frustrating, though they don’t require a team. The worst calls are the ones that mean risking the lives of search and rescue crews for someone who chose ignorance over safety.

While members of search and rescue teams come with experience and emergency preparedness in the outdoors, they are almost always volunteers, which makes their availability limited. Search and rescue teams require between 20 and 30 pairs of hands, primarily because of the weight of carrying a stretcher down or out of a mountain. Many rescue missions happen at night, which makes access to volunteers even more difficult. It also takes time — though many assume that search and rescue teams come quickly, they have to hike just as far as the person in distress, carrying medical and safety equipment and sometimes in the dark. Rescues usually take many hours.

“It’s not like there’s a bat phone,” Murphy said. “There’s a limit to what we can do.”

As the lead organizer in a search and rescue nonprofit, Murphy has to weigh the human cost to his rescue teams. He is working now on mental health resources for volunteers, who have experienced emotional trauma from these missions. It’s difficult enough to find people to put their physical safety at risk; the psychological consequences only amplify that difficulty.

Murphy has become an expert in checking his frustration — he’s a laid-back guy who wears Crocs on his days off — but he and his colleagues certainly feel it when the calls they receive could have been prevented by hikers checking Broccolo’s mountain weather forecast.

“The recognition that you’re always at risk in the wild is missing,” Murphy said.

Broccolo agreed.

“Society has made life really nice,” he said. “The wild is still the wild.”