The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reported that a female hiker, a mother of four, was declared dead on Sunday after falling more than 500 feet on an icy hill near Baldy Bowl, Mount Baldy, California.
She recorded a video of herself right before she fell to her death.
Her family confirmed that the hiker was Crystal Paula Gonzalez-Landas. They paid respects to her, referring to her as “the dancing hiking queen,” on a GoFundMe page set up by her daughter Jasmine Rosado to fund the burial expenses.
According to her daughter, she was a wonderful mother of four, sister, and friend to everyone she encountered. She was the epitome of beauty, love, and power and was ready to offer help to anyone who needed it.
A press statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that the 56-year-old woman was hiking along the Baldy Bowl path in Southern California when she slipped and fell down the icy hillside and suffered serious injuries. Police sent a rescue team to Gonzalez-Landas’ position after getting an SOS message from her GPS device.
Authorities said several hikers tried to help her.
The sheriff’s patrol chopper arrived at the site and lifted the victim, but she died of her wounds shortly before the helicopter could take her to a hospital.
Gonzalez-Landas released a video of her final hike on Facebook before the tragedy. While wearing a headlight and a bright-colored jacket in the pitch black, she stated on the video that there were many people out today, and “it’s go time!”
Gonzalez-Landas is the second individual to have died on Mount Baldy, according to the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. Several fall casualties were reportedly documented on the same peak during the winter. The police department recommended that people wear protective attire for the cooler weather conditions and carry the correct snow and ice gear.
