A 51-year-old man from Texas died after falling about 60 feet while hiking the La Luz Trail in the Sandia Mountains. Authorities said he had been hiking with his brother when he fell trying to get a better vantage point along the trail.
Fall Happened Near Popular Mountaintop Restaurant
The hiker has been identified as Russell Thompson, 51, of Texas, according to a report from Yahoo News. Thompson was coming up the La Luz Trail when he fell near the Ten 3 restaurant, about one-eighth of a mile north of the Crest Tram House, the outlet reported. Authorities received the report of the fall at about 4 p.m. on Thursday, prompting a multi-agency response.
That response included the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office Open Space Unit and Metro Air Support Unit, Bernalillo County Fire Rescue, the Albuquerque Police Department Open Space Unit, and UNM Mountain Medicine, per the same account. KRQE News 13 also reported that the man died while hiking and climbing in the Sandia Mountains and that he was from out of state, noting that the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office used its helicopter to assist with the recovery.
A Separate Recovery Required a Hoist
In a separate recovery, deputies described a man as an experienced mountaineer, KOAT reported. The outlet said high elevation and a narrow cliffside made reaching him especially challenging, requiring crew members to be lowered by hoist to reach him and carry out the recovery with dignity and respect. The crew worked with physicians from UNM and Mountain Medicine who were assigned to the search-and-rescue and air support teams, per KOAT's report.
Officials said the man died after falling while hiking and climbing in the mountains, according to KRQE's reporting, and his body was recovered from the Sandia Mountains. The steep, winding terrain around the range has repeatedly complicated rescue efforts for crews responding to falls at elevation.
Officials Warn Conditions Can Shift Fast
Officials have cautioned that steep terrain, heat, elevation and winding paths in the Sandia Mountains can cause conditions to change quickly, according to KOB. The station also noted that while the Sandia Crest remains closed, lower-elevation routes like La Luz are open to hikers. The warning echoes other recent incidents on the same mountain range, underscoring the risks hikers face even on well-traveled trails.
In a separate case reported by KOB, a body was found near a stream on the La Luz Trail on a Tuesday, later identified as Samuel Gurule, who was in his 40s; a hiker was the first to come across him. And in another Sandia Mountains incident detailed by KOAT, a person fell 140 feet down a rock wall, with state search-and-rescue crews and the New Mexico Mountain Rescue team responding to help recover the body. Each case has involved its own circumstances, but together they point to how unforgiving the range's cliffs and elevation changes can be for even seasoned hikers.
