Clarksville, N.Y. — A man trapped in a popular cave was freed in an hours-long rescue Sunday evening in Upstate New York.
The 20-year-old man was exploring Clarksville cave in Albany County with a group from Queensbury when he got stuck while trying to exit, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple Sr. said in a news release. The Queensbury man became trapped in a narrow part of the cave, the sheriff told the Times Union.
Clarksville cave is a wild, undeveloped cave just outside of Clarksville, a hamlet in Albany County. The horizontal cave boasts three entrances and about 4,800 feet worth of passages, according to the Northeastern Cave Conservancy.
“Clarksville is surely the best-known and most-visited wild cave in the Northeast,” the conservancy said in the organization’s informational page about the cave.
The sheriff’s search and rescue team worked with firefighters to set up pulley systems inside the cave, Apple said. After five hours, crews freed the trapped man and pulled him out of the Clarksville cave, the sheriff said.
The man suffered “very” minor injuries, Apples said, and was evaluated by Albany Medical Center doctors.
“Awesome job!” Apple said. “Training equals success!”
Rocks at the cave’s entrance became loose during the rescue, Apple told the Times Union. Until the rocks are secured, Clarksville cave will be closed, he said.
In addition to the sheriff’s office and doctors from AMC, crews from the Onesquethaw Fire Department, the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control and the Slingerlands Fire Department assisted with the rescue.
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