A 21-year-old New Jersey woman died of hypothermia after slipping off a trail near the summit of New York’s tallest mountain during a winter hike last week.
Brianna Mohr was found deceased near the summit of Mount Marcy by New York State Forest Rangers on Monday (February 12), according to New York State Police. Her dog, who was hiking with her, survived the ordeal and was rescued unharmed.
Officials said Mohr called 911 at 3:05 p.m. to report that she had fallen off the trail near the 5,344-foot summit and was unable to get back to it. This prompted an extensive search operation involving forest rangers, snowmobiles, and a state police helicopter.
“Forest Rangers were deployed and began an extensive search,” the police statement read. However, heavy cloud cover hampered aerial search efforts, forcing one ranger to continue the search on foot from the Marcy Dam Outpost – a challenging 5.1-mile hike with 3,000 feet of elevation gain.
Rangers located Mohr around 9 p.m., but she showed no signs of life and was pronounced dead at the scene. Weather conditions prevented immediate removal from the mountain, and her body was recovered the following day. An autopsy conducted on February 14 determined the cause of death to be hypothermia.
According to weather data from nearby Lake Placid Airport, temperatures had plunged to -2 degrees Fahrenheit at the time Mohr was found, though the summit would have been significantly colder as it sits more than 3,000 feet higher than the airport.
Mount Marcy, located in the Adirondacks, is a popular hiking destination that attracts approximately 70,000 visitors annually. The standard route to the summit involves a 14.8-mile out-and-back trip through challenging terrain. In winter, the exposed peak can experience extreme conditions, making it particularly dangerous.
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