The death last week of Phoenicia volunteer firefighter Michael Ryan while attempting to rescue an injured hiker has renewed calls from local officials and first responders for better education and outreach to visitors to the Catskills. 

Ryan, 61, died from a heart attack on Saturday while trying to reach a hiker with an ankle injury on Panther Mountain in Shandaken. According to figures from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Slide Mountain region—which includes the trail where Ryan died—hosted nearly 6,000 hikers in 2024, making it one of the most visited trail sites in the Catskills. That popularity, officials say, has led to an influx of novice hikers who find themselves too often in situations where they need assistance.

“It’s an endless battle,” said incoming Shandaken Supervisor Barbara Mansfield. “People underestimate the difficulty of even the most easy hikes. It’s a matter of getting the information out to people who think they know what they are getting into.”

According to the most recent Summit Steward Report, 25 lost or injured hikers required assistance in the Slide Mountain area that includes Panther Mountain, in 2024. The DEC has four rangers assigned to high-traffic areas, including Slide Mountain, Cornell, Wittenberg, and Giant Ledge trails in Shandaken, as well as North Point, Blackhead, Black Dome and Thomas Cole regions in Greene County. With so few rangers, local fire departments—most of them staffed by volunteers—are frequently called upon to assist in rescue operations. 

The arrangement places added strain on departments that are already stretched thin. 

“Our firefighters are real unicorns. They do a job that is incredibly difficult and they are rare to find,” Mansfield said. “The truth is, the population of people providing emergency response in our community is aging and we need more resources.”

Mansfield said she and Deputy Supervisor Robert Drake have begun reaching out to local and state agencies trying to find a way to better prepare hikers and reduce the number of rescue calls. Improved signage at trailheads could be one part of the solution, she said.

Jeff Wernick, a spokesperson for the DEC, said the agency “is in continuous communication with various stakeholders” and cited outreach efforts on the DEC’s website.

Mansfield pushed back on the effectiveness of the DEC’s efforts. 

“I find the state websites are a little inaccessible,” Mansfield said. “We need better language in the DEC’s education efforts. It really is a multiagency thing.”

“A larger societal issue”

Lieutenant Alexander Klohe of the Olive Fire Department was among first responders called to the scene on Saturday. When he arrived, Ryan had already been transported by ambulance. Conditions were severe: Temperatures were near single digits. Snow and ice made scaling the mountain difficult. When Klohe and responders from multiple agencies reached the injured hiker, he said it was clear that the person had not been prepared. 

“They were dressed like they were going to the grocery store,” Klohe said, adding that lack of preparation among hikers is common on these types of calls. “They aren’t educated. I learned at a young age that you don’t go on a hike without water or sturdy boots on.”

Some hikers will inevitably find themselves in peril, Klohe said. What troubles him more is what he sees as a dwindling number of people willing to volunteer.

“My frustration is not with tourists. It isn’t their fault that they aren’t properly educated,” Klohe said. “My frustration is with the fact that a 61-year-old man climbed up a steep slope to rescue this person because there was nobody else to do it. There are not enough residents that are capable or willing to do this job.”

The Phoenicia Fire District lists 20 active firefighters or line officers among its three companies.

Klohe, who relocated with his family to West Shokan in 2014, said he doubts there is a quick solution to the problem of dwindling volunteers.

“You aren’t getting paid for this job. Many of us do it because it is the right thing to do,” Klohe said. “This is a much larger societal problem.”

Phoenicia Fire District Chief Gary Carr grew up with Ryan and said the tragedy of his friend’s death brings into sharp focus the cultural divide between newcomers and residents who have lived in the area for decades.

“I’m the third generation of my family in the department. Both of my sons are volunteers. People who move into the area don’t get that right away,” Carr said, noting that state incentives for volunteer firefighters have helped, but the commitment and time demands are still significant deterrents. “Volunteerism as a whole is getting less and less, but we still have the same job to do.” 

Carr said the department was already grappling with tragedy when Ryan died. Firefighter Kris Craig was involved in a serious car accident on Dec. 9 in the New Paltz area. Carr said that Craig recently regained consciousness after being in a coma. He said Craig’s prognosis is improving, but there is still a “long road to recovery.”  

A problem of popularity

Michael Bonger, president of the Catskill 3500 Club, said his organization’s membership grew sharply in recent years as outdoor activities gained popularity during the pandemic. The club, which works to educate people about hiking in the area, had roughly 2,000 members in 2018. That figure has spiked to nearly 5,000 in the past few years. Dealing with that influx has been a challenge.

“We are always out there helping people,” Bonger said. “But even experts can get injured.” Closing certain trails at specific times could be among the measures the DEC considers, he said.

Drake, Shandaken’s deputy supervisor and a member of the 3500 Club, agreed that improved signage could be a first step.

“Visitors come to town, they get hurt and they tap local resources,” Drake said. “It isn’t a bad thing, in and of itself. We want to have visitors. But you see folks who are starting hikes too late in the day and don’t have anything like the right gear.”

As hiking traffic continues to rise—the Summit Steward Report noted that the Slide Mountain area saw 756 hikers on its busiest day in October 2024 — Drake said officials owe it to the community to do what they can to prevent another tragedy.

“We had this awful tragedy, and it isn’t clear what could have been done to prevent it,” Drake said. “But we need to see what we can do in the future to be better.”

Jim Rich is a senior reporter for The Overlook. You can reach him at jim@theoverlooknews.com.