Found Deceased CA - British actor Julian Sands, 65, missing in Mount Baldy area, San Gabriel Mountains, last seen 13 Jan 2023

[willyengland]

Perhaps it had initially nothing to do with the weather.
Just a "normal" accident or some medical problem?

 

[happyday]

Nooooooo! A Room With A View is one of my very favorite movies. He’ll always be George Emerson to me. I really hope he’s ok, but I don’t see how. So sad!

 

[CelticSummer]

I really hope he’s okay, but it’s not looking good

He’s been missing since Friday

 

[whitelilac]

“A delayed ping through Sands’ Apple iPhone operating system (on Saturday) provided a possible location on one of the trails leading to the summit of Mount Baldy,” the sheriff’s office said. “This area was checked by ground searchers and by helicopter. Ground and air searchers were unable to locate any evidence in this area that would assist in locating (him).”

The last successful cell phone “ping” was Sunday.

Search for missing British actor Julian Sands hampered by dangerous trail conditions

Authorities have been limited to helicopters and drones in their search for Julian Sands, a prolific British actor who disappeared while hiking in the snow-capped mountains northeast of Los Angeles…

ktla.com

with some video, including info about the mother of 4 who died.

 

[crhedBngr]

Here are some hikers' observations while climbing parts of the Mt. Baldy Bowl Trail.

The most recent comment, posted 01/14/23, is very concerning, as are some of the earlier comments below it.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/mount-san-antonio-via-baldy-bowl-trail

Link is courtesy of AllTrails: Trail Guides & Maps for Hiking, Camping, and Running

JMVHO.

 

[heartanium]

How was the weather the day he disappeared? I know both Southern and Northern California were getting some extreme weather the last few weeks.

 

[crhedBngr]

How was the weather the day he disappeared? I know both Southern and Northern California were getting some extreme weather the last few weeks.

We have indeed been getting extreme weather. Here is a link for conditions on Mt. Baldy. You click on the menu bar, then scroll down to 01/13/23.

Mount Baldy Past Weather For Last 30 days - LocalConditions.com

Also, note top comments posted in my "AllTrails" Mt. Baldy Bowl link. One is dated 01/14/23, and the one below this is dated 01/12/23.

JMVHO.

 

[heartanium]

We have indeed been getting extreme weather. Here is a link for conditions on Mt. Baldy. You click on the menu bar, then scroll down to 01/13/23.

Mount Baldy Past Weather For Last 30 days - LocalConditions.com

JMVHO.

Thank you very much!

The weather looks like it was alright that day, so hopefully it wasn't a weather related incident. Hopefully he is found soon but I have a feeling he may have went into medical distress or had an accident when hiking

 

[crhedBngr]

Thank you very much!

The weather looks like it was alright that day, so hopefully it wasn't a weather related incident. Hopefully he is found soon but I have a feeling he may have went into medical distress or had an accident when hiking

The weather may have been clear, but the trail apparently was slippery and icy. We don't know what hiking tools JS was equipped with when hiking that day. Did he have a helmet? An ice ax and crampons?

Hoping he is found soon.

JMVHO.

 

[whitelilac]

We have indeed been getting extreme weather. Here is a link for conditions on Mt. Baldy. You click on the menu bar, then scroll down to 01/13/23.

Mount Baldy Past Weather For Last 30 days - LocalConditions.com

Also, note top comments posted in my "AllTrails" Mt. Baldy Bowl link. One is dated 01/14/23, and the one below this is dated 01/12/23.

JMVHO.

Do we know what sort of equipment Mr Sands had? Crampons, ice ax, helmet as recommended in the all trails comments?

eta..posted same questions as above ..

 

[whitelilac]

Authorities have been limited to helicopters and drones in their search for Julian Sands, a prolific British actor who disappeared while hiking in the snow-capped mountains northeast of Los Angeles last week.

Sands, 65, was reported missing by a friend on Friday and believed to be somewhere along the Baldy Bowl Trail, a popular hike adjacent to 10,000-foot Mt. Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office.

Search for missing British actor Julian Sands hampered by dangerous trail conditions

Authorities have been limited to helicopters and drones in their search for Julian Sands, a prolific British actor who disappeared while hiking in the snow-capped mountains northeast of Los Angeles…

ktla.com

 

[whitelilac]

more snow expected tonight. NBC report coming up

https://twitter.com/x/status/1616208893528444943

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

It would seem he was a fairly experienced climber:

The family of missing movie star Julian Sands say he was doing what he loved best when he vanished – as they released the last known images of him mountaineering.

With the hunt for the British actor in the California mountains entering its sixth day, poignant photographs that he sent to his grandson show him looking relaxed and happy while climbing well above the clouds.

Mr Sands, who starred in more than 150 films and television series including A Room with a View, sent the pictures of himself climbing the Weisshorn mountain in the Swiss Alps to his grandson last September.

A family member told The Independent: “This is how he would love to be seen, doing what he loved best – a heroic mountaineer, and thrilled to send a picture of him looking so happy to share with his beloved grandson, Billy.”

And a friend described him as “a Byronesque romantic and an adventurer who is drawn to the extremes of nature, relishing the freedom of mountains”.

[...]

‘What he loved best’: Last pictures actor Julian Sands sent from snow-clad mountain

Picture exclusive: Poignant images show missing ‘A Room with a View’ star scaling peaks in the Alps as search enters sixth day

www.independent.co.uk

 

[crhedBngr]

It would seem he was a fairly experienced climber:

The family of missing movie star Julian Sands say he was doing what he loved best when he vanished – as they released the last known images of him mountaineering.

With the hunt for the British actor in the California mountains entering its sixth day, poignant photographs that he sent to his grandson show him looking relaxed and happy while climbing well above the clouds.

Mr Sands, who starred in more than 150 films and television series including A Room with a View, sent the pictures of himself climbing the Weisshorn mountain in the Swiss Alps to his grandson last September.

A family member told The Independent: “This is how he would love to be seen, doing what he loved best – a heroic mountaineer, and thrilled to send a picture of him looking so happy to share with his beloved grandson, Billy.”

And a friend described him as “a Byronesque romantic and an adventurer who is drawn to the extremes of nature, relishing the freedom of mountains”.

[...]

‘What he loved best’: Last pictures actor Julian Sands sent from snow-clad mountain

Picture exclusive: Poignant images show missing ‘A Room with a View’ star scaling peaks in the Alps as search enters sixth day

www.independent.co.uk

Based on these photos, seems as though he would have been well prepared for this climb.

Again, let's hope he is found soon.

ETA: Rain is passing over our area as I type this. Here is today's forecast for the Mt. Baldy area.

JMVHO.

 

[10ofRods]

Thank you very much!

The weather looks like it was alright that day, so hopefully it wasn't a weather related incident. Hopefully he is found soon but I have a feeling he may have went into medical distress or had an accident when hiking

It was clear that day, with word of a large storm moving in the next morning. It was already at something like 100% of normal for snow and ice, so conditions were dangerous and a storm was coming in.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Tom Murray 20 January 2023 01:00

44 minutes ago

Search continues by air​

With the recent avalanche warnings in the Mount Baldy area, the search and rescue teams were suspended. However, authorities confirmed they will still continue the search by air, with drones.

Inga Parkel 20 January 2023 00:30
1 hour ago

A refresher about what happened to Julian Sands​

On Wednesday (18 January), authorities identified Sands as the hiker who went missing in the Southern California mountains last week.
He’s been missing since Friday (13 January), when his wife, writer Evgenia Citkowitz, reported him missing. Sands was thought to have been somewhere on the popular Baldy Bowl Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Mount Baldy is a 10,000ft peak located northeast of Los Angeles, in the Angeles National Forest.

Helicopters again grounded by high winds in search for missing Julian Sands

Fresh searches on higher ground for Sands are still not possible due to poor conditions

www.independent.co.uk

 

[whitelilac]

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.

"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"

Actor Julian Sands Missing Amid California Storms After Hike | Weather.com

British actor Julian Sands went for a hike last Friday in the San Gabriel Mountains and hasn't been seen since. Adverse weather conditions are hampering the search for him. Here's the latest. - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com

weather.com

So sad.

 

[Seni]

Calling @RickshawFan for comments

 

[RickshawFan]

Calling @RickshawFan for comments

First off, I'm irritated that Sands' disappearance is highlighted by a gazillion media outlets, but the other hiker who's been missing on Mount Baldy at the same time gets barely a mention. I also don't like to see "he died doing what he loved" in any challenging rescue call-out when so many SAR members are putting their lives at risk looking for him; the odds of one of them dying in those icy conditions is very high.

There was also a death on Baldy Bowl the week before: Crystal Paula Gonzalez-Landas. She slipped and fell down the bowl 700 feet or so. Nothing had changed in conditions: actually, judging by the number of SAR call-outs, the climbing conditions were worse than they had been.

Female hiker dies after falling 700ft down California's Mt Baldy

Crystal Paula Gonzalez, a 56-year-old mother of four, fell to her death on Sunday while attempting to summit Mt Baldy, 45 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Her final video showed the pre-dawn trek.

www.dailymail.co.uk

This is a quote from the American Alpine Club (the standard source for analysis of mountain accidents) about the notoriously death-enhancing hiking conditions on Mount Baldy and a neighboring peak in 2017. Note:" crampons wouldn't have helped".

On February 2, Daniel Nguyen (23) slipped on ice and slid 1,500 feet to his death from the Devil’s Backbone. The following Saturday, February 6, saw no easing of unusually icy conditions, and a dozen people had to be airlifted off Mt. Baldy as a result. One hiker, 47-year-old Dong Xing Liu, wasn’t so lucky, as he died after slipping from Icehouse Saddle, located in a drainage southeast of Baldy. His wife also fell and suffered serious injuries to her lower body.

In the Los Angeles Times, on February 8, Mt. Baldy Fire Department Captain Gordon Greene described the icy conditions as “almost like a mirror,” saying that even “crampons wouldn’t have helped.” Twelve days later, on February 20, a 45-year- old San Diego man who was wearing crampons plummeted 1,500 feet down a steep, icy chute on the north side of Mt. Harwood, directly east of Mt. Baldy on the Devil’s Backbone ridge. The man’s two companions, neither of whom were injured, also were wearing crampons.

Winter conditions on Mt. Baldy’s upper reaches have taken the lives of other climbers, including Ali Aminian and Michelle Yu, both experienced mountaineers, in 2004 and 2010, respectively.

AAC Publications - Fatal Falls on Unusually Icy Peak

In February, three people plunged to their deaths down icy chutes on Mt. San Antonio (a.k.a. Mt. Baldy) or nearby; two of these were attempting to ...

publications.americanalpineclub.org

 

[RickshawFan]

Were there weather warning up about hiking in the area?

Every winter people die up there because of these exact conditions. Also, CA has been experiencing storm after storm after storm. With wind blasting at snow, the exposed summit and trails become encased in ice. And then there's the rain....