ERVING — A man in his 20s sustained life-threatening injuries after falling more than 20 feet on the eastern side of the Farley Ledges on Wednesday evening.
According to Erving Fire Chief Philip Wonkka, a multi-agency response was required to rescue the injured hiker and another hiker, also a man in his 20s, who was not injured. The two were not local residents, he said.
The Shelburne Control Dispatch Center received the call seeking emergency personnel to respond at 6:58 p.m., and it was dark by the time rescuers reached the hikers, who were near a cliff face in the eastern portion of the Farley Ledges.
“They were up there hiking and got a little misoriented,” Wonkka recalled.
After a nearly two-hour rescue operation, Orange Fire Rescue EMS transported the injured hiker from the staging zone at the Route 2 parking lot to the Orange Municipal Airport. From there, he was airlifted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.
To extricate the hikers, the Western Massachusetts Technical Rescue Team responded with eight team members from six regional fire departments, according to Team Coordinator Daryl Springman. He said a rescue basket was used to secure and remove the injured man, and harnesses and ropes were used to help the uninjured hiker.
“We’re familiar with the trails and the ledges from having done rescues up there in the past, but we were definitely looking for their technical expertise in that technical area,” Wonkka said of the rescue team’s assistance.
Additionally, a specialized drone from the Pelham Fire Department was called in to provide extra lighting where the rescue took place.
Wonkka advised inexperienced hikers to avoid the trails around the ledges that can be difficult to navigate and feature steep drops in some areas.
“The height difference is very drastic in there,” Wonkka said. “Some of them are almost straight up and down, so if they’re going to go hiking in there, be prepared for a very technical hike.”
