New York rescue crews pluck injured ice climber off remote ravine: A lot of hazards
GREEN COUNTY, NY – Forest rangers with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said they faced several challenges working to airlift an ice climber after a dangerous fall in the Catskills left him seriously injured and unable to walk.The climber, a 35-year-old man from New Paltz, New York, was climbing alone and without a rope at Buttermilk Falls on Jan.24 when he fell.NYSDEC Forest Ranger Seamus Peterson told FOX Weather he was one of the first rescuers to reach the climber on the ground.“The ground had been frozen for weeks,” Peterson said.
“We’ve had some deep freezes, so we’ve had several inches of ice that are now bringing in a lot of ice climbers like this gentleman here, which led to this unfortunate accident.”Peterson said his crew faced real challenges as the man was in an unmarked backcountry ravine, which required a significant amount of technical training and skill to reach.“In this circumstance, with this rescue, what created a lot of hazards was trying to get this gentleman out because he was unable to walk,” Peterson said.“(He) sustained traumatic injuries that were serious and necessitated getting him out there in a quick fashion.
So between the backcountry and the circumstances around us, it would have taken several, several hours to get him out of there.”So, the NYSDEC partnered with the New York State Police, who train with forest rangers, to reach the climber and have him airlifted from the ravine.Peterson noted how the relationship between police and forest rangers is built on a foundation of training that they do regularly, training every day for this kind of operation.“Rangers are a pretty unique rescue group,” he said.“There’s approximately 130 of us in the state covering close to 4 million acres.
So, we have to be prepared for any situation at any time.We’re not only backcountry experts, we’re wildland firefighters, law enforcement, and just built to take on any kind of opportunity th...