By Courtney Dentch
A 76-year-old Long Island City hiker was struck by a rock and killed last week as he was helping others cross a boulder field on their weekly outing to the trails about 50 miles north of New York City, state police said
Nicholas Styranovski, of 33-43 14th St. in Long Island City, was hiking up Schunemunk Mountain in Orange County with an informal group of about 36 backpackers on May 22, when a boulder killed him and injured four others, police said. Styranovski was brought to Cornwall Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, said a state trooper from Troop F in Newburgh, which responded to the incident.
Styranovski had passed the boulder field and gone back to help some of his fellow hikers who were less steady at about noon on May 22, state police said. The field was part of a pre-existing rock slide where boulders came to rest after falling down a steeper slope, said Edward Goodell, the executive director of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, an organization that helps maintain the area’s hiking paths. A large boulder came loose from above and hit Styranovski and four others, police said.
The others, from New Jersey and suburban New York, were treated for injuries including head trauma, fractures, hypertension, and other minor scrapes, police said.
Three state police helicopters were used to transport the hikers to area hospitals. State Environmental Conservation police, forest rangers and local firefighters aided the state police in the three-hour evacuation.
No one answered Styranovski’s phone in Long Island City and it was not known whether he had family members living in Queens.
The informal hiking group – known as the Wednesday Hikers – conducts weekly outings to the Appalachian Mountains and other regional hiking trails, Goodell said. As they hike they discuss their plans for the next week’s hikes, he said.
Although the ages and experience levels of the members vary, they are mostly retired people who are skilled hikers, he said.
“They are a great group of people,” Goodell said. “They love nature and they get out there and they have had incident-free hikes for about 30 years.”
And the Schunemunk Mountain is mostly middle-level hikes, although some of its trails can be more difficult, Goodell said.
“It’s known to be the finest hiking in a small, compact area anywhere in the region,” he said.
Although Goodell did not know Styranovski personally, from what he heard of Styranovski, his instinct to help his fellow hikers was typical of the man, Goodell said.
“He was known as someone who really loved to get out there and help other people get out into nature,” he said of Styranovski. “He was up over the incline and had gone back to the edge to help guide other people up when this happened.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 138.
