https://www.northcountrypublicradio....repared-unsafe
by Brian Mann (Adirondack Bureau Chief) & Martha Foley (News and Public Affairs Director) , in Newcomb, NY
Oct 11, 2017 — New York state forest rangers face a growing pace of searches and rescues in the Adirondack Park. Today we're looking at one of the big factors contributing to the spike of emergencies in the back country. State officials and outdoor experts say too many hikers and campers are coming to the North Country unprepared. Sometimes that leads to tragic outcomes.
Unprepared to survive
Last month when forest rangers were searching for Alex Stevens deep in the Adirondack backcountry, it quickly became clear that the 28-year-old hiker from New Jersey was out of his element, without the right skills or equipment.
"He’s not very well prepared, be real clear on that," said Lt. Brian Dubay the incident commander in Newcomb. "We believe any warm weather clothing that he thought he had we consider to be inferior. He had a lot of cotton. We believe that he purchased a hammock."
Early in his trip into the High Peaks wilderness, Stevens was caught in cold rain. His lack of foresight proved fatal. Frank Whitelaw is the Essex county coroner called in after Stevens body was recovered.
"He certainly didn’t have any food with him, he didn’t have a compass, and he didn’t have the means to start a fire," Whitelaw said. "When you don’t eat, you’re going to make bad decisions and you’re not going to be able to function after a while."
Biting off more than they can chew
Backcountry experts and outdoor guides say more and more people are turning up in the Adirondacks - even some of the most remote parts of the Adirondacks - without anything like the proper equipment or training. That’s contributed to a surge in the number of searches, the number of rescues and the number of deaths in the backcountry.
"Many of these rescues are happening because people bite off more than they can chew," said Basil Seggos, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
"They're coming into the outdoors, they're not prepared for it, they don't have a plan, they haven't talked to anybody, they don't have any emergency equipment. The public has to have safety in mind when they go and try to bag a peak."
There’s a growing sense in the Park that this message isn’t getting across. To many people are learning about the Adirondack Mountains through tourism marketing campaigns and social media but they’re not grasping the fact that wild country poses
This has been discussed here many times and a lot of us see people that are mentioned in the article on nearly every trip.
When a day trip turns into a night in the north woods
Eric Lahr heads the New York state forest ranger division. He says even people planning a short outing in the Park should think about survival. "If they're planning for a day hike, they need to come prepared to stay then night. You can only teach folks that so much."
Another thing that forest rangers say visitors aren’t grasping is that conditions here often differ wildly from what they experience back home or at lower elevations. "Bring the appropriate equipment not only for the weather you're experiencing at home," said Lt. Brian Dubay. "You go up on the summit of Marcy and it’s like going up to James Bay in Canada, temperature-wise, and then you add winds on top of that."
by Brian Mann (Adirondack Bureau Chief) & Martha Foley (News and Public Affairs Director) , in Newcomb, NY
Oct 11, 2017 — New York state forest rangers face a growing pace of searches and rescues in the Adirondack Park. Today we're looking at one of the big factors contributing to the spike of emergencies in the back country. State officials and outdoor experts say too many hikers and campers are coming to the North Country unprepared. Sometimes that leads to tragic outcomes.
Unprepared to survive
Last month when forest rangers were searching for Alex Stevens deep in the Adirondack backcountry, it quickly became clear that the 28-year-old hiker from New Jersey was out of his element, without the right skills or equipment.
"He’s not very well prepared, be real clear on that," said Lt. Brian Dubay the incident commander in Newcomb. "We believe any warm weather clothing that he thought he had we consider to be inferior. He had a lot of cotton. We believe that he purchased a hammock."
Early in his trip into the High Peaks wilderness, Stevens was caught in cold rain. His lack of foresight proved fatal. Frank Whitelaw is the Essex county coroner called in after Stevens body was recovered.
"He certainly didn’t have any food with him, he didn’t have a compass, and he didn’t have the means to start a fire," Whitelaw said. "When you don’t eat, you’re going to make bad decisions and you’re not going to be able to function after a while."
Biting off more than they can chew
Backcountry experts and outdoor guides say more and more people are turning up in the Adirondacks - even some of the most remote parts of the Adirondacks - without anything like the proper equipment or training. That’s contributed to a surge in the number of searches, the number of rescues and the number of deaths in the backcountry.
"Many of these rescues are happening because people bite off more than they can chew," said Basil Seggos, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
"They're coming into the outdoors, they're not prepared for it, they don't have a plan, they haven't talked to anybody, they don't have any emergency equipment. The public has to have safety in mind when they go and try to bag a peak."
There’s a growing sense in the Park that this message isn’t getting across. To many people are learning about the Adirondack Mountains through tourism marketing campaigns and social media but they’re not grasping the fact that wild country poses
This has been discussed here many times and a lot of us see people that are mentioned in the article on nearly every trip.
When a day trip turns into a night in the north woods
Eric Lahr heads the New York state forest ranger division. He says even people planning a short outing in the Park should think about survival. "If they're planning for a day hike, they need to come prepared to stay then night. You can only teach folks that so much."
Another thing that forest rangers say visitors aren’t grasping is that conditions here often differ wildly from what they experience back home or at lower elevations. "Bring the appropriate equipment not only for the weather you're experiencing at home," said Lt. Brian Dubay. "You go up on the summit of Marcy and it’s like going up to James Bay in Canada, temperature-wise, and then you add winds on top of that."
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