Aldrich said the five hikers may be at fault for failing to bring snowshoes into the deep snow, although the case will be "judged on its own merit," he said.
Last year, the department billed about five lost hikers, one as much as $2,000, he said.
Not having snow shoes was a mistake, but "not too unreasonable", said Philip L.F. Johnson '01, a member of the Harvard Outing Club, a undergraduate student group not affiliated with the Dudley House group.
Advertisement
"There are risks in winter hiking," he said.
The rest of the Dudley House outings group had gotten back to Cambridge without incident.