Posted by Schoharie Co. Fire Wire & News on Thursday, August 20, 2015
Above: Photos of the rescue, shared on the Schoharie County Fire Wire and News Facebook page.
Schoharie County's Search and Rescue Team rescued a camper who was trapped 100 feet up a cliff near a Gilboa campground on Wednesday, Aug. 19, according to a press release from the Schoharie County Sheriff's Office.
The victim was 34-year-old woman from Milford, Connecticut who was staying at the Nickerson Park Campground in the Schoharie County town of Gilboa with her family, police say. Her name is not being released.
The woman had scaled a sheer rock cliff near the campground and somehow became trapped more than 100 feet up, the rescuers told the Daily Star:
"She was up in this little crevice in this cliff, and it is a sheer cliff almost," said Schoharie Sheriff Tony Desmond, who joined the rescue workers during the operation ... "She just couldn't get down," the sheriff added. "She apparently made a little leap to get across to where she was, and it didn't work out too well for her."
At 7:45 p.m., someone at the campground called 911, and a team of first responders from the Grand Gorge Fire Department and Rescue Squad and the Schoharie County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the scene.
They quickly realized that they needed a rope rescue team to reach the woman, according to the press release:
When it became apparent that a specialized rescue team was required, [Grand Gorge] Fire Chief D.J. Speenburgh requested that the Schoharie County Search and Rescue Team be dispatched to the scene.
After carefully setting up ropes and anchors, two members of the rescue team descended to the small outcropping where the woman was standing, along with a rigid, body-length stokes basket, the press release states.
The woman was strapped into the basket and was lowered to the ground, where she was found to have no injuries, police say.
She was, however, allegedly found to possess marijuana, and the Schoharie County Sheriff's Office issued her a ticket for the offense. She will appear in Gilboa Town Court on Sept. 10 to answer that charge, the press release states.
According to Schoharie County Fire Wire and News, about 15 members of the county's rescue team helped in the rescue.
