"Trails on Mt. Baldy, the towering peak that looms over Southern California and has lured many inexperienced and under-equipped hikers to their deaths, will be closed for the next two weeks. Angeles National Forest officials issued the closure order Tuesday morning in anticipation of a winter storm that is expected to dump heavy snow on the 10,000-foot summit. Three hikers died after sliding off the icy, narrow Devil's Backbone trail and plummeting to their deaths following a storm in December."
""The frequency of rescues our department is involved in annually, and the lack of concern for what's happening on Mt. Baldy by those who are responsible for maintaining visitor's safety needs to be addressed," San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a statement last month. "For the last several years, our department has been trying to have the U.S. Forest Service more involved in keeping people safe while they recreate on Mt Baldy.""
"For about half of the year, the top of Mt. Baldy - it's formally Mount San Antonio, but everyone calls it Baldy - looks like a winter wonderland to millions of people living below. So, despite flashing signs on the access road that say "WARNING ICY TRAILS" and "HIKING NOT ADVISED," many Angelenos with little experience in the mountains - let alone in snow - have been unable to resist the gleaming white summit."
Mt. Baldy trails are closed for two weeks ahead of an anticipated winter storm predicted to dump heavy snow on the 10,000-foot summit. Recent incidents include three hikers who slid off the icy Devil's Backbone and died after a December storm, and 23 deaths on the mountain in the past decade. San Bernardino County search and rescue has responded to hundreds of calls and the sheriff urged greater U.S. Forest Service involvement to protect visitors. The closure prompted backlash from experienced climbers, while many inexperienced Angelenos ignore warning signs and attempt the snowy summit.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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