Update: Local Agencies Crucial to LaDron Peak Rescue

It took the combined efforts of the Socorro County Sheriff’s Department, Socorro Fire Department, New Mexico State Police, and Socorro Search and Rescue to locate and rescue an injured hiker in the mountains. LaDrones near LaDron Peak last week.

On the afternoon of January 22, a 911 call was received from a 50-year-old woman who had walked with her two dogs to a point approximately 9,100 feet on LaDron Peak and fell and s was injured in the ankle.

“When the county sheriff and the Socorro Fire Department got the call, they knew the situation was going to be tough, so they asked Socorro Search and Rescue to help coordinate it,” Spencer said. Moreland of Search and Rescue, who was designated incident commander.

It didn’t take long for Moreland to decide that a helicopter rescue would be the quickest option.

According to hiker site alltrails.com, “(LaDron Peak) is an extremely demanding all-day off-trail destination. The twin peaks are separated by a deep saddle and protected by miles of steep, rocky terrain. Only the most experienced, fit and prepared hikers should attempt it,” the site warns.

Some of the Socorro search and rescue team members on a recent training hike.
Photo courtesy of Zoë Havlena

“The New Mexico State Police have a helicopter that we used for search and rescue, so that was our primary option. To use the helicopter to hoist it up and fly it,” Moreland said. “When she called 911, she had a GPS app and she was able to give coordinates from that app to show where she was,” Moreland said. “There was no way she could go out on a hike.”

The New Mexico State Police helicopter, call sign ABLE 7, with a crew of pilot, winch operator and rescue specialist launched into the area to assist .

“The helicopter pilot found her exactly where she said she was going to be,” Moreland said.

Socorro Search and Rescue is a volunteer organization whose membership is primarily New Mexico Tech students, but also has several community volunteers. The local group acts as a member team of the New Mexico Search and Rescue Council under the direct authority of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and the New Mexico State Police.

In the meantime, Socorro County Sheriff’s Detective James Nance and Socorro Fire Department EMT Dustin Aldrich had already begun the strenuous trek up the mountain. Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Gutierrez was standing downstairs with an NMSP officer.

Nance said he and Aldrich started walking shortly after 11:30 a.m.

“There’s a pipeline route that the hiker followed, and we followed it all the way,” Nance said.

He said the woman followed a route she found on a hiker’s app.

“It’s called ‘mytrails’ or something like that, which shows a trail to the top of the mountain,” he said. “But there really isn’t a track there. It’s basically wild. But Dustin was able to download the same app, and we used it to find out where she went.

“The road was extremely steep and rugged country,” Nance said. “It’s pretty much wild. Nobody goes up there for, you know, any reason.

He said they prepared for the climb as best they could.

“The ambulance came to the base of the mountain with us, but it would have been difficult to bring a litter with us, so Dustin brought a sheet with him in case we had to bring it down ourselves. If we really needed it,” he said. “We ended up using that to move her around a bit. But it would have been nearly impossible to bring her down without the helicopter.

Luckily, the woman had intermittent cell phone service, “so we were able to talk to her on her cell phone a few times, a little at a time.

“He kept giving up,” Nance said. “We got up there knowing that she wasn’t far from her vehicle. Within three miles of his vehicle. And it wasn’t until we were halfway up that we realized she was all the way up.

“It was quite a climb and it was really, really steep,” he said. “She was lucky to get any type of cell phone reception from up there. Dustin’s cell phone didn’t work well at all.

Nance said where she fell, her cell phone was inconsistent on outgoing calls.

“We were at 9,100 feet, so I took his cell phone and descended over 500 feet before I could make a call,” he said. “Once I was able to communicate with everyone, I was really happy because the helicopter was only 15 minutes away.”

The hoisting mission by the crew of ABLE 7 (helicopter callsign) which took place around 4 p.m. was a success.

“The ABLE 7 crew located the injured hiker and her rescuers near the top of the mountain,” NMSP said in a news release. “The NMSP rescue specialist was lowered to the hiker where she and the Socorro Fire Department paramedic were prepped for the lift.

“ABLE 7 then airlifted the injured hiker to a waiting Socorro Fire Department ambulance, and she was transported to an area hospital with injuries not believed to be life threatening. danger,” the NMSP said.

Once safely hoisted, Aldrich accompanied the injured hiker into the helicopter, leaving Nance on the mountain.

“I went down in the dark,” he said. “It took a long time to come down. I started just before sunset and knew I wasn’t going to get much light so I got as low as I could before it got completely dark.

He said the woman took her two dogs with her on the hike and they followed him for much of the way.

“After the woman was lifted, the dogs stayed on top for a little while and I could hear them howling,” Nance said. “She, of course, had told me the names of the dogs and I stopped and called them until they came to me and they stayed with me a little at a time. Then when I was halfway there they came and came back with me.

He said the hiker’s brother had been contacted and had arrived from Las Cruces.

SSAR’s Moreland said the search and rescue team was still there.

“We like to have a plan B,” he said. “So if anything changes, we want to have a team that could walk over there and put her in a litter and carry her.”

As for the hike, Nance warned to be wary of online instructions.

“We have seen issues when people follow online instructions. It can show them a road that doesn’t really exist or once existed,” he said. “A lot of times when people get lost, they follow something like Google Maps or some other app, and it shows them roads or trails that aren’t really there.

“She seemed like a capable hiker, but it’s wilderness up there. At 9,100 feet it was cold,” he said. “I wouldn’t say she wasn’t prepared. She had hiking gear and some food, some water.

But she wasn’t ready to break her leg, he said.

“She was just lucky to be able to make a phone call. If she couldn’t, she would have died up there,” Nance said. “No one would have found her.”