APD Open Space officers save 3 hikers on La Luz trail

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque Open Space officers rescued three hikers in the Sandia Mountains Wednesday.

Police said the hikers got turned around on the La Luz trail because the snow had gotten so deep. When they were found, their boots and pants were frozen to their bodies.

The officers got the hikers dry clothing and socks and started a fire to keep them warm and dry off their boots. The officers guided the hikers to the tram house where they strapped snowshoes to the hikers and helped them down to the Ellis parking lot.

"It is likely, had the officers not been in the area training, or the hikers had to wait for another rescue, they would have likely been hypothermic if not worse," APD spokeswoman Rebecca Atkins said in a release.