Bodies of three hikers recovered from Mt. Baldy amid harsh
Three hikers were found dead on Mt. Baldy after a winter storm. The tragedy highlights dangerous winter hiking conditions and renewed calls to close trails.
Three men were found dead on Mt. Baldy on Monday, days after a winter storm blanketed the peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains with snow.
At around 11:30 a.m., search and rescue teams responded to a request to find an injured man, 19, who had fallen 500 feet while hiking near Devil's Backbone, a sharp ridge flanked by steep drops that leads to the summit, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. A friend who had been traveling with him had hiked to an area with cell service and provided GPS coordinates to rescuers, officials said.
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A sheriff’s air rescue team recovered the bodies Tuesday at about 2 p.m., the department confirmed Tuesday evening.
The helicopter crew initially spotted the injured hiker Monday afternoon, along with two other unidentified males, but strong winds made it unsafe to carry out a rescue that day, the release states.
Around 7:30 p.m. Monday, a Los Angeles County airship was able to lower an air medic to the site, who confirmed that all three men were dead, officials said. Severe winds again prevented the helicopter from recovering the bodies until Tuesday afternoon, the officials said.
“This heartbreaking incident is yet another reminder of the extreme dangers posed by the mountain during winter weather and the urgent need for stronger preventative measures,” San Bernardino County Supervisor Dawn Rowe said in a statement.
The identity of the 19-year-old was not released. The other two males had not been identified, and it was unclear how long they had been on the mountain, authorities said.
The incident adds to the mountain's grim record as one of the nation's deadliest and prompted renewed calls from elected officials for the U.S. Forest Service to close its trails during hazardous conditions.
Rising 10,064 feet above sea level, Mt. Baldy is instantly recognizable as the backdrop to the Los Angeles skyline. That proximity is a draw for both experienced hikers and those who are ill-prepared for the terrain and weather, which can be up to 40 degrees cooler than the basin below.
Hikers consider Devil's Backbone to be challenging under the best conditions, as its sheer drop-offs leave little margin for error. But during the winter, snow, ice and wind transform the popular trail into a treacherous mountaineering route that requires gear like crampons and an ice axe to travel safely.
There have been more than 100 rescues on Mt. Baldy since 2020, and 14 deaths, including that of actor Julian Sands, who went missing on the mountain in January 2023. His remains were found nearly six months later.
Harsh weather complicates rescues and makes it difficult to find missing hikers, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokesperson Gloria Orejel.
"Unfortunately, weather conditions play a big part in whether or not our helicopter can fly, overlook, and hoist during a recovery," Orejel said. "When people get lost during inclement weather, it's very hard to get our search and rescue crews on the ground."
Although Mt. Baldy is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino County shoulders the primary burden for responding to emergencies there, Rowe said. The steady march of search-and-rescue calls have caused the Sheriff's Department to spend millions of taxpayer dollars while placing first responders at risk, often during life-threatening winter storms, she said.
Those dynamics prompted San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus in 2023 to call for the Forest Service to temporarily close the mountain during unsafe weather conditions, and to put in place a permitting process to track the number of hikers and educate them about the risks they face. County supervisors continue to support those interventions, Rowe said.
The Forest Service closed the Mt. Baldy area from 10 p.m. Monday to 11:59 p.m. Wednesday but did not say whether the closure was related to the hikers' deaths or the recovery effort.
The agency is currently evaluating ways to improve visitor safety in the area and expects more progress in the coming months, a Forest Service spokesperson said in a statement.
"Even in popular and frequently visited areas, conditions can change quickly — particularly during winter weather — and can present serious, sometimes unpredictable hazards to visitors," the statement said.
People should understand their personal limits, prepare and check conditions before heading into the mountains, the agency said.
U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, whose district includes Mt. Baldy, said in a statement that she's worked closely with both the Forest Service and the Sheriff's Department to promote hiker safety in the area, including by convening a 2023 roundtable on how to prevent future tragedies. After that discussion, the agencies improved coordination to strengthen outreach efforts with clearer public messaging, enhanced trailhead signage and expanded volunteer outreach at key access points and visitor centers, she said.
"While these steps are important, more work remains," Chu said. "Once all the facts related to this case are known, we must continue working together to further enhance safety for hikers."
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