A 60-year-old Canadian climber is alive this week after a rescue that could have gone very differently. On October 21st, he lost his crampons on an icy ledge of the Trap Dike on Mount Colden in the Adirondacks, a fourth-class climb officials say has been tied to multiple deaths over the years. Instead of attempting a risky downclimb, he stayed in the same spot and activated his satellite beacon around 6:30 p.m.
Forest Ranger Jenna Curcio and her team reached him around 1 a.m., roughly seven hours later. Curcio described the stakes bluntly, saying that if either of them had slipped before he was clipped in and on her tether, he would have been killed. The climber’s discipline and his beacon made the difference between a rescue story and a tragedy.
Cold-weather season is just starting, and while our Suncoast trails and waters don’t look much like an Adirondack ice ledge, the principles hold. Research your route, know its difficulty rating, carry a way to call for help, and if conditions turn, stay put. Have you ever had a close call outdoors? Share your story in the comments.
