A woman climbing on icy Mount Baldy in Los Angeles slipped and fell 700 feet to her death on Sunday, February 5, 2023. The Sheriff’s department was alerted about her fall because she was carrying a Garmin inReach device that sent them an SOS message. Unfortunately rescuers did not make it in time to save her.
Crystal Paul Gonzalez, 56, was nicknamed the “dancing hiking queen” because of her love of hiking and climbing. She loved to film herself hiking and would post her videos on social media.
The California woman died tragically just minutes after she posted a video of herself hiking the icy slope.
A helicopter was sent to the mountain, using GPS coordinates from Gonzalez’ device, to locate her.
Police said Gonzalez, who had fallen to a steep and icy hillside, was surrounded by fellow hikers who were trying to help her.
A medic was lowered to the slope to tend to the injured woman and she was airlifted and brought to a hospital with severe injuries but she had already died.
In her video posted on Facebook, she was happy and enthusiastic about her hike and said it was “go time” and that the slope was crowded with people that day.
Ice was rolling downhill past her, and the conditions became too dangerous for her to continue the hike, so she turned back. However, during her return to safety, the mom of four slipped and fell down the mountain and crashed into a tree.
The Sheriff’s office said Gonzalez was the second person to die after sliding down the mountain during the past two weeks.