Storm-Bound Tragedy: Three Hikers Die on Mt. Baldy as Recovery Waits

A Mountain That 'Gives Nothing Back'

By late afternoon on Sunday, the cloud ceiling above Mt. Baldy had dropped to 5,000 feet, turning the summit ridge into a wind tunnel of ice and granite. Inside the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s command post, search-and-rescue coordinator Tim Williams stared at the last ping from three cellphones—dots frozen in place 8,400 feet up the mountain.

The Final Ascent

The trio—identified by authorities as Daniel Kim, 32, of Pasadena; Lisa Ornelas, 28, of West Covina; and Miguel Álvarez, 35, of Ontario—set out at dawn Saturday under a cobalt sky. Friends say they were experienced, each carrying micro-spikes and a shared Garmin inReach. Their plan: summit via the Devil’s Backbone, snap sunrise photos, and descend before the Pacific storm rolled in.

“They knew the forecast, but the window looked doable,” said hiking partner Rachel Mejia, who backed out last minute with a knee injury. “They were laughing in the trailhead photo. That’s the image I keep replaying.”

When the Storm Arrived Early

What forecasters predicted as a dusk-front arrived before lunch. Temperatures plummeted 25 degrees in an hour; visibility shrank to arm’s length. At 12:17 p.m., Kim texted: “Whiteout—turning around.” It was the last message received.

By 5 p.m., worried relatives triggered the first 911 call. Volunteer teams climbed through the night but were beaten back by 70-mph gusts that hurled rime like shrapnel. At daybreak, a California Air National Guard Blackhawk attempted a hoist; the pilot aborted after rotor ice began forming at 130 knots.

Discovery on the North Face

Monday at 6:12 a.m., a break in the jet stream allowed a sheriff’s helicopter to insert two rescuers 300 feet below the Backbone’s knife-edge. They followed a set of half-buried footprints to a shallow depression behind a windbreak of whitebark pines. There, beneath a thin silver emergency blanket, the three hikers lay side by side, skis poles still strapped to their packs.

“It appears they tried to wait it out,” Williams said, voice cracking during a press briefing. “Hypothermia can make you feel warm. They probably removed gloves, unzipped coats. It’s a textbook case of paradoxical undressing.”

Recovery on Hold

A second storm—now spinning south from Alaska—has grounded all aircraft. Forecasters warn of another 18 inches of snow above 7,000 feet, with winds topping 80 mph. Until the front passes, recovery teams cannot reach the site; the bodies remain on the mountain under a protective tarp and GPS beacon.

‘A Peak That Forgives No One’

At 10,064 feet, Mt. Baldy is the highest point in the San Gabriels and a rite of passage for Southern California hikers. Yet the mountain has claimed at least 14 lives since 2017, including two in separate avalanches and one who slipped on verglas while taking a selfie.

• Search and rescue teams respond to an average of 85 incidents on Mt. Baldy each winter.
• Only 23 percent of climbers carry emergency locator beacons, according to a 2023 U.S. Forest Service survey.
• Post-storm, avalanche danger on the north slope is rated “High” (4/5) by the Sierra Avalanche Center.

“People see it from the 210 Freeway and think it’s a backyard hill,” said mountaineer and author Sylvia Ross. “But it’s a serious alpine environment. The weather flips faster than anywhere I’ve guided in the lower 48.”

What Comes Next

Once skies clear, a 22-member technical team will ascend via the Ski Hut Trail, using a static-line rope system to ferry the bodies across a quarter-mile of 45-degree ice. Coroner’s investigators will then determine exact causes of death, though officials say hypothermia and exposure are “all but certain.”

Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial grows at the Manker Flat trailhead: three candles flickering against the wind, a stack of climbing goggles, and a handwritten note laminated in plastic.

“To Danny, Lisa, and Miguel—You died doing what you loved. We’ll finish the hike for you.”

The San Bernardino County Sheriff has scheduled a joint press conference with the U.S. Forest Service for Thursday, when they will release 911 audio and outline proposed safety measures—among them, mandatory winter permits and real-time weather kiosks at trailheads.

Until then, the mountain stands shrouded in storm clouds, its flanks glistening like broken glass, holding three of its own.