The 65 -year -old actor, who played in “Chambre with Vue”, ventured on Mont Baldy, near Los Angeles, in an area made dangerous by series storms that hit the American West .
mo12345lemonde with AFP
It has been a week since British actor Julian Sands, who has gone hiking in a snowy mountain range in California, no longer gave a sign of life. The 65-year-old actor, made famous by films like Chamber with View (1985), “was missing (…) on Mont Baldy” Friday January 13, said Thursday, January 19, at the France-Presse agency , a spokesperson for the Bureau du Sheriff du Comté de San Bernardino, Mara Rodriguez.
This mountain, also called Mont San Antonio, culminates at 3,068 meters above sea level and is the highest peak of the San Gabriel chain, near Los Angeles. The area is a popular destination for outdoor activity enthusiasts, but the recent series storms that hit California have brought a lot of snow, and made it dangerous.
Rescue teams had started research on Friday, but had to suspend them on Saturday evening, due to the state of the trails and the risk of avalanche. “However, we continue to carry out research by helicopter and using drones when the weather conditions allow it,” said the spokesperson. “We will launch new ground research when the weather improves and when the safety of our teams on the ground will be ensured,” she added.
Mountain passionate
Born in Yorkshire, north of England, Julian Sands took up residence in California. After room with a view, he has shot in many other popular films and television series, notably Warlock (1989), Arachnophobia (1990) and 24 hours Chrono (2006).
Mountain passionate, he notably climbed the Andes Cordillera in the early 1990s and found himself stuck in a storm at more than 6,000 meters above sea level. In 2020, he had entrusted to the British daily The Guardian finding bliss “near a mountainous summit in a beautiful cold morning”.
The authorities of the County of San Bernardino had reported difficult weather conditions last week on Twitter and had alerted, Wednesday, on the danger of hikes on Mont Baldy during this period because of the strong winds and the ice.
Hikes are “extremely dangerous, even for a seasoned hiker”, warned the local sheriff office in a press release, saying that under these weather conditions, it was “very difficult to deploy resources in this area when a Randoner is missing “.
In recent weeks, the emergency services have had to carry out a dozen rescues in the region. At least two people died, including a woman who fell more than 200 meters after slipping on a frozen path.