Bicyclist ignores ‘death’ warning, falls 100 feet and lands in trouble

A bicyclist who ignored a verbal “death” warning and a road closed sign attempted to cross an active rockslide on California’s Highway 1 near Big Sur and wound up requiring a helicopter rescue after falling 100 feet down the slope.

Cody Lynn Mortensen, 28, was airlifted to a hospital where he was treated and then arrested by the California Highway Patrol for failing to obey a person directing traffic and failing to obey traffic signs and signals, according to KRON and The Mercury News .

The Regent’s Slide, triggered after heavy winter rains, is located at Post Mile 27.8 and has been closed all summer. It is still active, is steep and lacks a trail.

Mortensen approached the slide around 9:30 a.m. Friday. The CHP reported that a construction worker told him that the road was not passable “and if he attempted to cross it, he will probably die.”

Mortensen was also warned if he got caught by the CHP in the closure he’d be cited. The man from Lucerne Valley, California, said he would try anyway.

About an hour later, State Parks Ranger F. Bettencourt arrived on the scene with a rescue team.

“As they were looking across the slide, they saw a backpack and a bloody arm approximately 100 feet below them,” CHP officer Saul Perez wrote, according to KRON.

Mortensen managed to climb down to the beach where Bettencourt and the Big Sur Fire Department met him, KSBW reported . He was treated for a laceration to his forearm and possible head trauma, then was airlifted by helicopter to Natividad Medical Center, KRON reported.

More from The Mercury News:

Over the past week, [Mark] Readdie [of Big Sur’s Big Creek Natural Reserve] has encountered four people who insisted on climbing through the slide. Of those, two were on foot, and two were on bicycles.

“Three were not people that were likely to read the news, nor plan ahead,” Readdie said. “They were either unhoused or visibly with a mental health issue. The fourth thought they had it all figured out on their own using digital maps.”

The slide is one of three that were caused by winter storms. The two others, Paul’s Slide and Dolan Point, have been repaired and reopened…

Caltrans said it expects to reopen the section of highway affected by Regent’s Slide in the fall. Work has been delayed due to the danger and daily unpredictability at the site.

Photos of rescue and rock slide courtesy of the California Highway Patrol. Photo of 2017 slide at Big Sur courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.