A hiker who slipped hundreds of feet from an Adirondack peak in freezing rain last week and clung to a spruce tree atop a sheer cliff has been rescued, authorities said Wednesday.
A 46-year-old woman, whose identity has not been released, called for help from a forest ranger about 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 26, saying she had slipped from the top of South Dix Mountain in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. This was announced by the York Region Department of Environmental Protection.
She told rangers that she fell several hundred feet through steep snow and rockslides and grabbed a small spruce tree to keep herself from going over the edge of the cliff, the agency said.
Rangers had the woman call 911 to get her coordinates and told her to find a way to stay warm because it would be several hours before they could reach her on the mountain.
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A view of the Adirondack Mountains, which have been raining and snowing for the past few weeks. (Basil Seggos/New York State Department of Environmental Protection)
“She honestly thought she was going to die out there,” Ranger Jamison Martin said in a video describing the incident. “She was just scared and couldn't go in any direction. She obviously wasn't going to go any further down, but she couldn't get back on the slab. She basically I felt completely stuck.”
Martin described dangerous conditions, including temperatures in the low 30s, pouring rain, deep snow and slippery ice, which he called hypothermic weather.
Officials urged hikers to use extreme caution when venturing into the Adirondack Mountains as recent heavy rains have made conditions unstable. (New York State Department of Environmental Protection)
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Martin and another ranger arrived at the woman at 1:30 a.m. and provided her with hot liquids, food, and dry clothing. Rangers then guided the hikers out of the vegetation and back onto the trail so they could descend.
Rangers and hikers arrived at her vehicle at 6:30 a.m., the department said. Further details about the hiker's condition were not immediately released.
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Martin said the woman is an experienced hiker who has summited all 46 of the Adirondack High Peaks, which rise above 4,000 feet, twice and is on her third return trip.
