Maddie Popolizio, 19, and 20-year-old Blake Alois were found near Algonquin Mountain and rescued by helicopter Tuesday. Both are expected to be OK.
In a phone interview, Popolizio said she is eager to share her story, but is simply too exhausted to speak on camera right now.
Blake and Maddie were found near the summit of Algonquin Mountain, an altitude approaching 5,000 feet, around 11 a.m. Tuesday. DEC Forest Rangers were taken to the area in a State Police helicopter. Rangers say it took more than two and a half hours to rescue the hikers because of their location and harsh weather conditions.
The DEC released a video of the rescue Wednesday. We spoke with a ranger involved in the rescue. He says with more snow in the forecast and temperatures dropping, yesterday was the day they needed to find the two, and it became a race against the clock to find the hikers, get them in a helicopter, and off the mountain.
“We were hoping to get them off the mountain with aviation using the hoist and hoisting them into the ship,” said Capt. John Streiff, a DEC Forest Ranger. "Ships obviously can not land because of the conditions, but the pilot tried around a dozen times to try to get into the clouds and kept getting pushed back. He finally got into the clouds, and with a ranger on board, they actually put the hoist down and a harness on each individual, and they were brought up into the ship."
Popolizio is recovering at her home in Niskayuna. Alois is being kept overnight at a hospital in Schenectady. His mother tells me he has severe frostbite on his feet.
We’ll continue to follow their recovery in the coming days.