Last week NYS DEC Ranger had a training exercise on rescuing ice climbers at Kaaterskill Falls. They didn't have to wait long for those new skills to be put to use. On Thursday, March 7, 2019, DEC Rangers were called to Kaaterskill Falls to rescue four hikers when had hiked up to the middle basin without crampons or microspikes. They then discovered that they could not get out of the middle basin because it was covered completely with ice. Four DEC Rangers (Ranger Chris DiCintio, Ranger Jason Seeley, Ranger David Nally, and Ranger Katherine Fox) had to extract the four hikers from the middle basin. Once out, the hikers were able to return back to their cars.
Image from SAR training
Image from SAR training