In the early afternoon on March 2, a 25-year-old hiker from Manhattan slipped on the ice-covered descent at Kaaterskill Falls, injuring his shoulder despite wearing microspikes. New York State forest rangers assisted him to Route 23A, where he was picked up by friends.

The minor accident was a reminder of the risks winter brings to outdoor recreation in the Catskills, but for ice climbers, the bigger danger is not just falling—it’s that the ice is disappearing.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), hiking rescues vastly outnumber climbing incidents. In Greene County, home to Kaaterskill Falls, there was just one ice climbing rescue in both 2024 and 2025—the same number reported in 2015. Over the last ten years, the county has recorded six ice climbing rescues total.

Hikers, on the other hand, require assistance at much higher rates. Greene County saw 32 hiking rescues in 2023, with numbers reaching as high as 41 in 2020. In Ulster County, where climbers frequent other ice routes, not a single ice climbing rescue has been recorded since at least 2015.

“The Catskills probably had its best ice climbing season in ten years,” said Stephen Pucci, an experienced climber and administrator of the Catskill Ice Climbers Facebook page. Kaaterskill Falls freezes every winter but isn’t viable for climbing every year. “This was one of the rare seasons where it fully formed.” But even as climbers seized the opportunity, they knew it wouldn’t last. Pucci climbed Kaaterskill Falls on February 24, but by early March, warm temperatures and rain made it dangerous to climb. In total, it was viable for about five days. “Now it’s beyond not viable,” Pucci said.

Winters in the Northeast are becoming less stable, with extreme temperature swings, said Cornell University climatologist Jessica Spaccio. “We see more mid-winter warm-ups that melt snow and ice, shortening and destabilizing the season,” she told The Overlook. “Over the long term, winters in the Northeast are getting shorter.”

Pucci, who tracks ice conditions across the region, has noticed the shifts firsthand. “The Catskills used to have a reliable season. Now, we’re lucky to get one at all,” he said. “Some years, there’s nothing. Other years, the windows are shorter and harder to predict.” As climate change accelerates, the sport itself is adapting. “We’ve gotten to a point where we are doing more mixed climbing than ice climbing on routes that used to be pure ice because there’s rock to navigate now where there used to be more ice,” Pucci said.

For those who managed to climb Kaaterskill Falls, the experience was fleeting. “The last time Kaaterskill was in reliable shape was 2015,” said Michael Rawdon, a guide for Alpine Endeavors. “It’s a monster—it shakes, it booms, and it’s terrifying.” Even when it looks solid, Rawdon said, it’s often a hollow tube with a rushing stream inside. “At best, we’re climbing the outer skin,” he said. “You can feel it shift as ice breaks off inside.” Unlike smaller frozen waterfalls in the region, Kaaterskill Falls presents a unique challenge. Climbers who know the mountain well say that when the ice booms and creaks, it’s actually a sign of stability. “I’ve had old timers tell me that when it’s booming and creaking, it’s safe to climb. And if it’s not, it’s not safe to climb,” Pucci said. “Which is kind of counterintuitive to your senses, right? But you can feel it when you’re there.”

For Marty Molitoris, a longtime Catskills guide and founder of Alpine Endeavors, unpredictability is part of the sport. “Ice is a canvas that gets wiped clean,” he said. “If you want to climb it, you have to be ready.” Molitoris wrote the book “An Ice Climber’s Guide to the Catskill Mountains,” and has been climbing in the Catskills since 1991 and guiding since 1995. He has seen conditions become more erratic over the years. “Winters are starting later and ending sooner,” he said. “Ten to fifteen years ago, there was more ice and snow across the Northeast.” Some of the best climbs in the region require deep backcountry travel. “Some spots in the Catskills have no trails. You can be nine miles in and gone for 8.5 hours. That’s what makes it special,” Molitoris said. He also warns that ice conditions change constantly, meaning climbers need to develop a deep understanding of the medium. “You want to understand ice—it changes daily. With experience, you learn how to read it. Blue-green ice is strong and dense, white ice is rotten, like Styrofoam,” he said.

According to the NYSDEC, hiking rescues outnumber climbing incidents.

For Sam Somera and Hannah Noll, a couple who climb together, ice climbing is as much about trust as skill. “A climbing partnership is like any relationship,” said Somera, a social studies teacher living in Salisbury, Connecticut. “It builds communication, cooperation, and trust.” Noll, a landscape architect from Hudson, put it more bluntly. “When I hold the rope for Sam, his life is in my hands,” she said. “And when he holds the rope for me, my life is in his.” Somera describes climbing as meditative, not adrenaline-fueled. “It’s not about thrill-seeking,” he said. “It puts you in a deep state of focus, like running or yoga.”

For Pucci, this season felt like a gift—but a fleeting one. “This was the best I’ve seen in a decade,” he said. “But it’s not a return to normal—it’s a lucky year.” With temperatures expected to hit 60 degrees in the Catskills next week, the season is all but over. “This weekend, climbers need to ask themselves: is the ice still attached to the rock?” Rawdon said. “Because if it’s not, you don’t want to be the last person climbing it.”

Noah Eckstein is the editor-in-chief of The Overlook. Send correspondence to noah@theoverlooknews.com.