Eric Zerkel
The search is on for British actor Julian Sands in treacherous conditions after he went missing in the Southern California mountains after going on a hike last Friday.
Sands, 65, whose filmography includes dozens of well-known movies and shows, went for a hike on Friday on a trail in the Mt. Baldy area, around 35 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains.
His wife then reported him missing when he didn't return later that day. His car was later found nearby. The San Bernardino County sheriff's office announced to the public that Sands was missing on Wednesday.
A sheriff's office spokesperson said that ground searches had to be abandoned over the weekend because of treacherous conditions, including the threat of avalanches. The search has continued by air since then.
A series of atmospheric river-fueled storms dumped snow on Mt. Baldy and other peaks in the area before Sands went missing. Conditions were clear on Friday when he went missing, but another storm moved through the area starting on Saturday and had dumped another 10 to 18 inches of snow at the nearby ski area by Tuesday.
It's unclear what trail Sands departed on, but a 4.5-mile hike to the top of Mt. Baldy is described by the U.S. Forest Service as "strenuous" and says the 3,412-foot ascent is "aggressive." And that's without adverse weather. Sands is considered a very experienced hiker and said in a recent Guardian interview that he was happiest "Close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning."
"We strongly urge the community to just stay out of that area [Mt. Baldy] because even the most skilled hiker, like Mr. Sands, will find themselves in trouble just because it's too icy and the weather plays a big factor in whether we can deploy resources to that area," Gloria Huerta, public information officer for the San Bernardino County sheriff's department told NBC
The sheriff's department also said that they had to conduct at least 14 rescues of hikers in and around Mt. Baldy over the last four weeks because of treacherous weather. Two people died from falls in those incidents.
Sands isn't the only hiker missing in the San Gabriel Mountains. Searches continue for Bob Gregory, a local man who went missing in the Crystal Lake area on Monday.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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