Sad events here in Santa Fe over the past 48-hours. A hiker/camper got lost from her party near Lake Katherine in the Sangre de Cristos above Santa Fe. Lake Katherine sits at the bottom of a bowl below 12,600 foot Santa Fe Baldy. The local search and rescue team in a helicopter found the lost camper and picked her. As they were flying out, something happened and the helicopter struck the side of the mountain. It is believed that only the spotter survived, with the lost camper and the pilot perishing (though the pilot was still alive after the crash, and there is a slight hope with him if the weather breaks).
Generally, most people think the mountains around Santa Fe are tame (and they probably usually are quite tame). But we've had a toxic mix of rain/snow/sleet that has just socked in the mountains over the past 48-hours and made finding the crash sight impossible. The spotter hiked a mile out and hit searchers, yet the searches cannot find the crash sight in this weather. The lesson being that weather can get severe in the mountains quickly, and not relent for days, creating a real danger even on a so-called tame mountain.
My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.
Posted by Pam Colander on June 11, 2009 at 1:06 PM
We were heading up to the top of Sandia mountain that evening. The weather came roaring in like a freight train while we had dinner there. This was all happening during that time frame. Very very sad. It's always so terrible when a rescue group has a tragedy while trying to save someone. What kind of fate is in place when you get rescued and then die in the attempt? The spotter must have 9 lives. Read about his being hit by a car in 2004 and taking 2 years to recover ! Jeeze
It's hard to say that one tragic death is worse than another, but every time I hear about someone being rescued, and then the rescued and rescuers are lost, it just seems doubly sad. Like the headline I saw this morning that said a woman who missed her flight on that Air France jet that went down last week just died in a car crash. That's rough...
Discussion
3 repliesGenerally, most people think the mountains around Santa Fe are tame (and they probably usually are quite tame). But we've had a toxic mix of rain/snow/sleet that has just socked in the mountains over the past 48-hours and made finding the crash sight impossible. The spotter hiked a mile out and hit searchers, yet the searches cannot find the crash sight in this weather. The lesson being that weather can get severe in the mountains quickly, and not relent for days, creating a real danger even on a so-called tame mountain.
My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.