BajaNomad - Nine American motorbikers rescued in Baja mountains

Nine American motorbikers rescued in Baja mountains

BajaNews - 1-27-2010 at 01:00 PM

http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-01-26/mexico/nine-american...

By Tania Navarro
January 26, 2010

TIJUANA — A group of nine Americans was rescued Monday at an area called Agua Hedionda over the mountains in Sierra de Juarez.

Baja California civil protection officer Alfredo Escobedo said that on Sunday the Americans were on a motorbike tour, from Santa Veronica Ranch to the Hanson Lagoon.

Once in Sierra de Juarez, they were trapped in the snow, out of fuel and had no equipment to camp in the mountains.

“They were not prepared for a snow adventure and they were exposed with no food and no water to a very low temperature,” he said.

Escobedo said the group was able to phone the U.S. Embassy, which in turn contacted Mexican authorities to perform a search.
Click here to find out more!

The rescue operation started Monday morning by land and air. The air unit located the group hours later.

Nine Americans including six California residents and three Colorado residents were found in healthy conditions. They were identified as William Derroth, Don Emler, Robert Rosenberg, Lance Waddill, Don Waddill, Todd Kerbs, Danny Laforte, Paul Eody, and Troy Seysordh.

Escobedo said that they were all transported to the La Rumorosa ecological area for medical examination, and to have food. Finally they were taken to the Santa Veronica Ranch to take their personal vehicles and return home.

He also said that they are all expert motorbike riders who participated previously in the Baja 1000 off-road race and the Paris-Dakar rally.

Mexican Authorities Rescue Stranded U.S. Travelers

BajaNews - 1-27-2010 at 01:02 PM

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=351114&Categor...

TIJUANA, Mexico – Nine U.S. citizens who got lost on a motorcycle trip through the mountains of northern Mexico were rescued safe and sound after a heavy snowstorm and lack of fuel kept them from returning to their hotel, Mexican authorities said on Tuesday.

The civil defense office in Baja California state said in a communique that the rescue took place Monday during a search requested by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.

The tourists got lost in a place known as Agua Hedionda, located in the Sierra de Juarez mountains, when they went out Sunday on an excursion from their hotel in Tecate.

State civil defense director Alfredo Escobedo Ortiz said that a blizzard in the Sierra de Juarez mountains buried the roads in snow and that the Americans ran out of fuel while trying to find a way back to the hotel.

The search for the tourists began Sunday, but not until Monday morning were seven of them found, having spent the night in an abandoned house amid temperatures of minus 8 C (17 F).

Later the other two Americans were found in another part of the mountains.

For the rescue operation, Mexican authorities used specialized snow vehicles and a helicopter.

After a medical checkup, the group was taken back to the hotel where they were staying.

motoged - 1-27-2010 at 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaNews
.....they are all expert motorbike riders who participated previously in the Baja 1000 off-road race and the Paris-Dakar rally.

All that alleged experience and no GPS or adequate gas???

Could happen to any of us, I guess...

tripledigitken - 1-27-2010 at 03:43 PM

Interesting background information on these riders.....

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9098846

One of the riders was well known World Motocross Champion Danny LaPorte.

It is also mentioned that the "spot" messenger emergency unit did not function properly.

Ken

bajaguy - 1-27-2010 at 04:00 PM

Ken

Looked at the post and thread on "Thumper"

Did not eleborate on SPOT or say what the problem was. I have used my SPOT in the "OK Check" mode and the tracking mode and have found it to be extremely accurate.

Have not had occasion to use the "Help" function or the "911" function, although I do pay the extra $8.00 per year for the GEOS anytime/anywhere evacuation program.

Would be interested in hearing more about ......."spot" messenger emergency unit did not function properly ........

tripledigitken - 1-27-2010 at 04:14 PM

bajaguy,

Me too. That's why I posted that. I will try to follow up on that part of the story.

Ken

bajalou - 1-27-2010 at 05:04 PM

I have received 2 "Help"messages from friends who have Spot. Both times it reported accurately where they were. Also many dozen of OK reports from both mine and fiends Spots.

motoged - 1-27-2010 at 05:13 PM

I will be relying on my SPOT device for the possible 911 situation over the next two weeks of riding between San Felipe and San Ignacio....I was not having any luck with it "tracking" last spring when I bought it....and haven't used it since then....sure hope the thing works when I really need it (hope I don't !!!)

Sat phones are a good idea, but I have heard sketchy things about them at times....

Friends rode that area two years ago and got caught in an ice storm without proper gear....nearly perished from hypothermia....but they have a story to tell now. Riding light vs the "what if" mode of packing is always a gamble.

arbee - 1-27-2010 at 05:28 PM

They had a sat. phone and a Spot and they both worked. There were two groups, 7 that had the phone and Spot, and 2 that did not. The group of 7 were in contact with people the entire time and the other 2 riders were taken in by a family for the night.

Bajahowodd - 1-27-2010 at 05:53 PM

Where was the US Coast Guard? :lol:

mtgoat666 - 1-27-2010 at 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by arbee
They had a sat. phone and a Spot and they both worked. There were two groups, 7 that had the phone and Spot, and 2 that did not. The group of 7 were in contact with people the entire time and the other 2 riders were taken in by a family for the night.

With all the news reports telling us to prepare for the STORM OF THE CENTURY, it is hard to believe they did not know about the STORM OF THE CENTURY coming their way, so why did they go gallavanting about in remote area without gear to hunker down in the storm????? Seems a wee bit wreckless. :fire:

Hope the govt charged them given their foolish exploit when storm was predicted :lol:

This makes me wonder, if gringo gets lost in snow storm, who should they call? The USCG or the Mex authorities? Which is least likely to send you a bill for helicopter flight?? :?:

[Edited on 1-28-2010 by mtgoat666]

fishbuck - 1-27-2010 at 06:18 PM

I'm thinking the same way Goat.
Sat phone and Spot locator but didn't check the weather forcast?

wessongroup - 1-27-2010 at 06:28 PM

Glad to see others think along the same line.. does the motto "Be prepared" mean anything... your supposed to take care of this yourself.. kinda like going fishing in the ocean and not thinking about the what if's.. cuz it's pretty out this morning, and I've been out before...

Woooosh - 1-27-2010 at 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fishbuck
I'm thinking the same way Goat.
Sat phone and Spot locator but didn't check the weather forcast?

The Colorado bikers should have checked the weather and have been better prepared. They should know weather is unpredictable. I've been snowed-in in July in Colorado before. But who thinks below freezing and snow in baja? They probably thought they could handle some rain without problem- and that was the worst they were expecting.

[Edited on 1-28-2010 by Woooosh]

you never know

msawin - 1-27-2010 at 08:19 PM

These are some of the top of the line guys on bikes

Danny La Porte was the first American, World Moto Cross Champion we ever had. Beat out Brad Lackey who rode the 500 class by one month. The 500's season ended one month after the 250's, that Danny rode in to be the first.
Danny has raced the Baja 1000 in years past.

Donny Emler was FMF racing. He founded the company and made some great modifications to his factory bikes, to be the top of the line in moto-cross racing. One of his racers was Danny.

You can never be ready for everything Mother Earth has for us.

martin-o

rts551 - 1-27-2010 at 08:35 PM

Guys. being a champion in motocross has nothing to do with riding in the wilderness. especially in the middle of a storm

BajaNaranja - 1-28-2010 at 10:36 AM

My first reaction to the headline was "unprepared rookies," but when I read a bit more on the story I came to think that they took ample precautions (SPOT plus Sat phone), probably more precautions than most of us take.

Also, not sure how long they were in Baja - if they were there days prior to the storm, then their forecast info would be spotty.

I was down there up until Thurs before the storm, and the info that other new arrivals had about the coming rain was unreliable, third hand, and didn't at all match the forecast that came out the last few days prior to the storm's arrival.

Glad they got out safe.

Baja12valve - 1-28-2010 at 12:03 PM

If you go outside for any extended period of time you check the weather again and again and prepare for the worst. Your life may depend on that information. As a member of SAR, we go on callouts all the time to haul out those who don't do the homework. Pure idiocy on their part. The SAT, cell phone and other PLD's give many a false sense of security as they think, " well, if everything goes South, we can just call our way out." We have retrieved those people too.

mtgoat666 - 1-28-2010 at 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Baja12valve
If you go outside for any extended period of time you check the weather again and again and prepare for the worst. Your life may depend on that information. As a member of SAR, we go on callouts all the time to haul out those who don't do the homework. Pure idiocy on their part. The SAT, cell phone and other PLD's give many a false sense of security as they think, " well, if everything goes South, we can just call our way out." We have retrieved those people too.

yes, if you set out to hike or go offroad into remote areas, particularly MOUNTAINS IN WINTER, you should carry emergency gear like foul weather gear, temp shelter and extra food,... the 10 essentials

weekend warriors,... :lol:

capt. mike - 1-28-2010 at 01:04 PM

a simple EPERB with built in GPS reporting is all they needed.

cost less than $500 now.
i won't fly without it.
especially in mexico.

dtbushpilot - 1-28-2010 at 01:21 PM

Yes mike, I carry a portable with me in the plane too. It's nice because I can take it with me camping etc. unlike the one mounted in the plane. I keep it in my ditch bag so that I'll have something to amuse myself with while I'm floating around in the SOC in my life raft.

I would still want to have a sattelite phone so that I would know weather or not anyone was coming. You don't know if any rescue effort is forthcoming with a "signal only" device. It would make a difference on how you handled the situation, stay put or save your own ass....dt

Cyanide41 - 1-28-2010 at 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rts551
Guys. being a champion in motocross has nothing to do with riding in the wilderness. especially in the middle of a storm

I think the point was that the guy is obviously not new to riding, and is not new to riding in Baja either.

wessongroup - 1-31-2010 at 03:24 PM

Quote:

Must agree, we become somewhat lax due to our reliance on modern tech devices..

Don't know about the specifics on their location, and their ability to put up some kind of shelter.. but, just matches would have helped.. and yes I've been out in the "field" when it gets wet.. and cold and miserable and tried to stay warm and dry.. it's not a lot of fun.. unless your real Gun Ho .... where is David

I think the other shoe fall to make this point even more strongly was the lost of the bridges South of Ensenada.. a lot of folks were of the same mind set I was, .... we will just take a run down to Muela and La Paz, throw a couple of sleeping back just in case, some beef jerky (no bears, mountain lions yes hard to believe still) and stay in motels, eat in restaurants, go by Jesse, take fancy clothes ... it will be fun.. and the food is supposed to be good..

For once this knuckle head got lucky, I did not go.. and was lucky to be up North of all the problems.. to old for that stuff.. we would not been a happy campers...

But, it did teach me an important lesson, Be prepared!! starting to look again at things which need to be in the car.. the "list" is no where as complete and organized (Alpha list and its neat and everything) as Pacodem's, but, have made a copy and printed it out.. thanks... for all the work and sharing

torch - 1-31-2010 at 03:31 PM

maybe there should be a bike (motor) list

wessongroup - 1-31-2010 at 05:58 PM

Yeah, fuel.. what number on the list do you give it :biggrin:

torch - 1-31-2010 at 06:30 PM

geezze I know