6 Hikers, Including 1 Injured In Avalanche, Rescued From Mt. Baldy
FONTANA (CBSLA) — Authorities say they rescued half a dozen people hiking on Mt. Baldy, including one who was injured in an avalanche.
A distress signal from a personal locator beacon, which provided a GPS location on Mt. Baldy, alerted the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Aviation at about 10:50 a.m. Saturday, authorities said Monday. The hiker was later determined to have gone off-trail and was injured after getting caught in an avalanche, about 400 feet above the Sierra Hut.
A search crew responded and found the injured hiker, but a hoist rescue was deemed necessary due to the hiker's injuries and the remote location.
Several inches of snow fell on the San Bernardino Mountains last week. And even though weather in lower elevations cleared up Saturday, authorities say low cloud cover in the mountains prevented an air rescue crew from hoisting the injured hiker to safety.
A crew of volunteers were coordinated to help find the injured hiker, who was being helped by other hikers, one of whom was able to stop the bleeding from an injury. The entire group was taken to safety, according to San Bernardino County sheriff's officials.
The injured hiker was taken to a trauma center for evaluation of non-life threatening injuries.
