If you will encounter snowfields, you should carry an ice axe and know how to use it. Additionally, you should receive avalanche awareness training. Every year hikers are needlessly killed by avalanches in the mountains. Hypothermia Hypothermia is the rapid loss of body temperature which could result in death. The high winds and rain which typify mountain weather put ill-prepared hikers at risk of becoming hypothermic.
Early symptoms are shivering, apathy, mental confusion, slurred speech, and stumbling.
Individuals exhibiting these symptoms should be removed from exposure to rain and wind as quickly as possible, given warm and or sugary foods and drinks, and change out of wet and into warm and dry clothes. More severe symptoms are unresponsiveness, decreased pulse and respiration, cessation of shivering, and physical collapse. Individuals exhibiting these symptoms must be transported to a medical facility immediately where they can be rewarmed. Fourteener climbs are challenging and require skill and experience.