Authorities have confirmed the identities of all three hikers discovered useless on Mt. Baldy on Monday following a winter snowstorm that coated the San Gabriel Mountains.
The 2 unidentified hikers had been Juan Sarat Lopez, 37, and Bayron Pedro Ramos Garcia, 36, each Guatemalan nationals dwelling in Los Angeles, in keeping with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Division.
On Wednesday, one hiker was recognized as 19-year-old Marcus Muench Casanova of Seal Seaside, who authorities say fell about 500 toes on Monday whereas mountain climbing Satan’s Spine, a pointy ridge with steep drops on either side.
Investigators say Casanova was not mountain climbing with the pair; nonetheless, rescue efforts launched Monday morning for the teenager led the helicopter crew to the opposite two hikers on the mountainside. Excessive winds restricted rescue operations Monday morning. Within the night, an airship lowered in a medic who confirmed all three deaths.
The our bodies had been recovered Tuesday afternoon.
“This heartbreaking incident is one more reminder of the acute risks posed by the mountain throughout winter climate and the pressing want for stronger preventative measures,” San Bernardino County Supervisor Daybreak Rowe mentioned in a assertion.
The incident has renewed calls from elected officers for the U.S. Forest Service to shut its trails throughout hazardous situations, particularly as Mt. Baldy is taken into account to be one of many nation’s deadliest peaks, even for knowledgeable mountaineers.
The climb to the highest of Mt. Baldy — which reaches 10,064 ft — is especially harmful throughout winter’s snowy situations, particularly on the difficult Satan’s Spine Path, which may expose hikers to heavy wind situations.
“It mainly turns into an enormous ice cliff,” mentioned Kyle Fordham, an skilled 36-year-old hiker who has accomplished the hike twice in snowy situations. “In the event you don’t know what you’re doing, you may very simply die on it.”
There have been greater than 100 rescues on the favored summit since 2020.
The Forest Service is evaluating methods to enhance security for guests within the coming months, a spokesperson mentioned in a press release.
“Even in widespread and regularly visited areas, situations can change shortly — notably throughout winter climate — and might current critical, typically unpredictable hazards to guests,” they mentioned in a press release. The company can be urging guests to grasp their private limits, put together and test situations earlier than heading into the mountains.
Instances employees writers Alex Wigglesworth, Itzel Luna and Gavin J. Quinton contributed to this report.
