Surely the distinctive headgear counted for something?

Students in Tutus Saved From Mountain Road

PASADENA, Calif. - Two dozen Caltech students wearing Superman capes, tutus and other odd attire as part of a hazing stunt were rescued after getting stranded on the Mount Wilson Toll Road. Organizers of the California Institute of Technology initiation ritual said they didn't realize the road had been covered last year by a landslide.

"You've got to remember that common sense is not factored into the intelligence quotient," said Deputy Greg Gabriel, who leads the Altadena Search and Rescue team.

The annual Mount Wilson Night, when freshmen are initiated into the Page House dormitory at Caltech, started off as planned Monday night, Caltech sophomore Nick Goeden said Tuesday.

The group had a large dinner before dressing the freshmen in costumes and parading them throughout Pasadena. The young men and women were then taken to the Mount Wilson Observatory for the planned 10-mile descent down the road.

A quarter-mile from the bottom, the group got stranded in Eaton Canyon where the landslide blocked their path. Rescuers were called in at about 3 a.m.

The students didn't have flashlights, warm clothes or other important supplies, Gabriel said. But the deputy said they were equipped with "distinctive headgear - hats with antennas and horns, that kind of stuff."

AP, 1 February 2006