Relieved hikers post with Rescuers in the San Gabriel Mountains. (Photo Courtesy of LASD)

Staff Reports

San Gabriel – Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue Teams were activated to look for eight missing UCLA students who had become lost and hypothermic in the snow.  The students are members of the UCLA Hiking Club. Five members of the group were able to navigate their way out of the forest, while the remaining eight were lost.

The search area was near Throop Peak at an 8,200 foot elevation.  The conditions were snowy and icy, with some drifts causing the rescuers to plunge thigh-deep into the snow.

Rescue teams from San Dimas, Crescenta Valley, and the Palmdale Sheriff’s Stations responded to the 911 call.  The hikers were located at 12:30 a.m. on Sun., Feb. 8, by the Montrose Search and Rescue Team from the Crescenta Valley Station.

It took rescuers six hours to hike the students out of the area due to the treacherous conditions.  To prevent the students from falling, the rescue team placed harnesses and ropes on them to safely lower them down icy slopes.

The students were elated to see the rescue team, some being mildly hypothermic.  None of the students required medical attention, and they were taken back to their cars – safe and sound.