Oh man, this is good entertainment. A so-called professional tour company gets lost and needs to get rescued, by the local Mexicans.
From Baja Bound Moto Tours: "Of course we're all glad everyone is 100%. Just knowing who was involved and that it was known they'd holed-up for the cold night made it not so dire. There's at least a few in that group who are very prepared. They were NOT lost. A few of the riders involved know the Sierra Juarez better than most anyone. They knew exactly where they were and which cabin they we're going for (well, not like it was the plan to reach that cabin when they started riding in the AM).
They knew when it got deep they were better off shooting for the cabin rather than turn around and for sure run out of gas with no shelter around. And apparently the SPOT does work in Baja.... This was found out (tested you might say) after a four wheel quad failed to reach the cabin because of amount of snow.
I was with a few guys and we were to meet up with the group mentioned on Sunday (pre-planned for riding fun, not rescue mission). We were riding northbound (them southbound). We got to a point I wasn't comfortable with snow depth and we turned around and headed back to Ens. We thought for sure they'd already be in Ens drinking after taking an easier route." oops!
The Baja California government yesterday identified the nine U.S. citizens riding off-road motorcycles who were airlifted by helicopter from the Sierra de Juarez.
The lost were: William Derroth, Don Emler, Robert Rosenberg, Lance Waddill, Don Waddill, Todd Kerbs, Danny Laporte, Paul Eddy, Troy Seysordh. Supposedly, these guys know Baja! 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.
Why did this all happen? To embarass everyone in the group and to show how bad Baja Bound can be? Tim Morton directed the group, gave them directions on how to navigate Baja using GPS coordinates
It may be better to have a satellite phone and a friend at the end of the line. We know all the riders and they said the snow was so deep the tires were just spinning which causes horrible gas mileage which caused one of the guys to run out of fuel. Nice planning. Didn't know the biggest storm ever recorded on the west coast was coming? Just more Baja off-road experts showing how stupid, 'La Familia', the desert off-road racing family, really is!
VIDEO Not associated with this group. But, Very Funny!
NEWS REPORT FROM TIJUANA — "Authorities worked Monday to restore areas south of Ensenada flooded by last week’s heavy rains, including a damaged bridge on the Transpeninsular Highway about 120 miles south of Ensenada that has stranded thousands of residents. The Santo Domingo bridge was expected to be at least partially restored by Tuesday, said Jaime Nieto, civil protection director for Ensenada.
That will re-establish a key link on the Transpeninsular Highway, the major artery connecting communities along the Baja California peninsula. Because of the extensive damage, Baja California Gov. José Guadalupe Osuna Millán declared an emergency in the region, giving state authorities access to federal funds to repair damaged roadways and bridges. Funds will be used to repair the Santo Domingo bridge and another in the community of Vicente Guerrero.
Nieto said up to 70,000 people in the region were left stranded as a result of the rains, with 2,000 sent to shelters. As of Monday, some 500 remained in the shelters, he said. One community still struggling is Ejido Erendira, a coastal fishing village of 2,500 residents about 50 miles south of Ensenada, 12 miles by paved road from the Transpeninsular Highway. The area is popular with surfers.
Adam Beecham, who operates a 52-bed hostel in the village, Coyote Cal’s, said stores have run out of drinking water, but residents are sharing their supply. Five houses were washed away along the Cañon San Ysidro riverbed, he said in a phone interview. Nieto, the civil protection director, said one lane of the road to the village was open Monday, but it will be closed tomorrow for repairs.
Baja California civil protection workers Monday rescued nine U.S. citizens stranded by snow in the Sierra de Juarez, in an area south of La Rumorosa. The group had been riding off-road motorcycles when they became stranded and ran out of gasoline. Alfredo Escobedo, the state’s director of civil protection, said that they used a satellite telephone to call out Sunday night to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. Civil protection workers reached the group Monday, and pulled them out by helicopter. Escobedo said they were from California and Colorado.
The 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 ."
BajaBound Moto Tours, "Oh man, that's good entertainment".
Baja Racing News.com