An ice climber on New York’s Pitchoff Mountain. (Photo Justin 0 of 0/Flickr)
Adirondack forest rangers helped rescue a man who was injured in a 100-foot fall while ice climbing in the High Peaks region this weekend.
On Saturday, January 23, rangers received a call requesting assistance for an injured ice climber. The 40-year-old man from Stanford, Connecticut, fell approximately 100 feet while climbing Pitchoff North Ice Face, on the Screw & Climax route. The man suffered serious leg injuries.
Members of his climbing party managed to lower him down to the base of the climb and keep him warm until forest rangers arrived on the scene. Rangers, along with a Lake Placid Ambulance medic, hiked into the climber’s location.
At 5:34 p.m. the rangers called for additional resources to conduct a technical rescue operation. Three rangers responded along with a technical rope rescue climber. Rescue personnel stabilized the injured climber and prepared him for extraction. They performed a low angle rescue and brought the man out by rescue sled to Lake Placid EMS, which transported him to Adirondack Health Center Saranac Lake. The incident concluded at 9:30 p.m. No further information on the climber’s condition was available.