A report analyzing an avalanche that swept three people 800 feet down Mount Washington last month called the incident avoidable.
On Jan. 17, a dozen people with varying experience began the climb, but when they were an hour from the summit, something triggered an avalanche, sweeping three of the hikers downhill.
Analysts from the Mount Washington Avalanche Center said many factors added risk to the situation, and when considered individually, they don't seem to be overly important. But taken together, they added up to a dangerous situation.
"I looked up from my pack and saw it fissure right across the gully, and it just -- we were gone, straight down the hill," said avalanche victim J.P. Politz.
Politz, his father and retired Marine Sgt. Keith Zeier found themselves trapped after the avalanche. They had been hiking up Central Gulley in Huntington Ravine when the avalanche happened.
Zeier had lost one of his legs in a bombing in Iraq, and the goal of the climb was to raise money and awareness for families of special-operations forces killed or wounded in action. The report states that the goal might have been a factor in the accident.
According to the report, an increased acceptance of risk often comes with an increased level of commitment. The report also said the group planned to spend the night at the Mount Washington Observatory, giving them extra incentive to push through to their final destination.
Those who analyzed the circumstances leading to the accident said they aren't trying to place blame, but they said it was "not a freak natural event completely outside the control of the party."
The analysts said the group had been warned by a snow ranger that the avalanche risk had increased to moderate, meaning human-triggered avalanches were possible. The group leaders decided to move forward anyway.
The report also analyzes the group's slower pace.
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