Hiker Survived Frigid Night After Falling Down Mountain By Clinging to Tree

Hope Lloyd was alone when she slipped down a snowy, rocky peak in the Adirondack Mountains

A woman was rescued after falling down a mountain peak while hiking in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.

Hope Lloyd, 46, was hiking the summit of South Dix Mountain on Dec. 26 when she slipped and fell several hundred feet of snow and a slippery rock slab, according to the Associated Press. Lloyd told the outlet that she managed to grab a spruce tree, which stopped her from sliding off the cliff. She was then able to call authorities for help around 5:30 p.m.

“That’s the only thing that saved me,” Lloyd told AP on Wednesday. “If I was a little bit to the left or a little bit to the right, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

An experienced hiker, Lloyd was out on the 4,060-foot mountain alone and survived the night waiting for forest rangers to rescue her.

“I thought I might have froze to death. There were like 45-mile-an-hour winds up there,” Lloyd said.

Related: Hiker Rescued 12 Hours After His Knee Got Stuck in Crack of Cliff

Ranger Jamison Martin described the conditions — wet and below 30 degrees — as “brutal" in a video detailing the rescue. He added that Lloyd was at risk for hypothermia. He also said Lloyd had completed all 46 peaks of the Adirondack Mountains twice before, and this was her third round.

“She’s been lucky all those other times,” he said. “It’s no joke out there. It’ll kill you.”

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According to Martin, Lloyd was carrying an emergency blanket with her, which helped protect her from the cold, and authorities told her to move her body to generate heat while she waited. Around eight hours after she made the emergency call, rangers reached her with supplies to warm her up as they made their way back to her vehicle.

“I feel extremely grateful. Extremely grateful,” Lloyd, who only suffered some scrapes and bruises, told AP. “I just want to hug everybody.”

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