Newbury Park Hiker Is Found Dead on Mt. Baldy

The body of a Newbury Park hiker who had been missing for three days was found Wednesday on Mt. Baldy, where he apparently had slipped on a narrow, icy trail and fallen more than 500 feet down a slope.

Ali Aminian, 51, was an experienced hiker and Sierra Club member who had been president of the California Mountaineering Club in 1998.

“One of the things he said was that if he had to die, he wanted to die climbing in the mountains,” said Jilaa Aminian, a 21-year-old sociology major at UCLA and Aminian’s oldest child. “I just hope that he didn’t suffer.”

Aminian was hiking alone Sunday, en route to the 10,064-foot peak of Mt. Baldy, when he encountered what rescuers described as hard, frozen ice conditions. He fell near the 8,990-foot elevation marker on Bear Flats Trail, hitting small pine trees as he plummeted and stopping under a small pine that obscured his body from searchers, a rescue official said.

One of four rescue dogs picked up a scent at sunset Tuesday. About 11:30 a.m. the next day, volunteers from the China Lake Mountain Rescue Group found the body. The terrain was so icy that the rescuers’ metal shoe spikes “barely stuck to the slope,” said volunteer Tom Roseman. “I’m sure he just slipped and couldn’t stop himself until he hit the bottom.” Aminian was wearing basic hiking boots, Roseman said.

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s helicopter lowered a hoist to recover the body.

Meanwhile, a second hiker remains missing on Mt. Baldy. Charles Koh, 53, of Buena Park disappeared during a hike on New Year’s Day. A spokesman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said the search would intensify this weekend with additional personnel.

Aminian’s family said he started climbing mountains more than 30 years ago in his homeland of Iran. He continued the sport after moving to the United States in 1977 and to Newbury Park in 1996. Sunday’s climb was training for a trek up Mt. Whitney in March.

Jilaa Arminian said her father often took daylong conditioning hikes to prepare for larger climbs.

Henry Arnebold of La Verne, who had climbed with Aminian for more than 12 years, said, “Everybody in the climbing community that knew him is devastated. He was a very safe climber, a very knowledgeable climber.”

Times staff writer Greg Griggs contributed to this report.