SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Harsh weather is causing problems for hikers around Mount Baldy near Los Angeles. In the last week, dozens of people have been rescued and two have died after accidents in the icy conditions. If it wasn't for a local woman, there might have been another fatality.
Lisa Woll was hiking Mount Baldy with a friend and their two dogs Saturday afternoon when a faint noise caught their attention.
"'Did you hear something?' And my friend Jim said, 'I didn't hear anything.' I heard something again. I started yelling, 'Is someone up there?' And we could hear it, but we couldn't hear what she was saying," said Woll.
Lisa says they heard the sound around 3:30 p.m., which was late for anyone to be that far up the trail. Lisa knew she was probably the woman's last hope for help.
"Finally, we figured out she was saying 911. And I'm like, oh my god, we have got to get her. And we're looking straight up this mountain thinking, 'How the heck are we going to get up there?'" said Woll.
Lisa and her friend are both experienced hikers who came well equipped for the icy, cold conditions.
When they found the woman, they discovered she wasn't alone. She and her husband fell off an icy trail together and Lisa says the husband wasn't moving.
"We tried rolling him over. Tried compressions. There was nothing we could do," said Woll.
Lisa called 911 and was told by the dispatcher that help was on the way. Two hours later, they were still waiting on the side of the steep hillside. So, she called for help several more times.
"Three times I'm told they've already picked you up," said Woll. "So, I spent another 15 minutes, 20 minutes convincing them, 'No, we're still on the side of the mountain.' Then they finally got our coordinates and they still didn't come."
Lisa thinks the woman, who spoke little English, had a broken hip and she was clearly not prepared from the frigid condition.
"She would not have made it that night. She would have died," said Woll.
Lisa and Jim provided the woman with clothes, food and water and together, they continued to wait.
After five hours of waiting, they were finally rescued. Later, they discovered that there were so many other hikers stranded around the mountain that the rescue helicopter wasn't able to reach their location until those rescues had been completed.
"They hoisted me up first, then the dogs and then her. They took us and dropped us off on Mount Baldy somewhere and then they took her to the airport. Then, they refueled and another hour and a half later, they got my friend, the EMT's and the deceased guy," said Woll.
Lisa says the experience won't deter her from hiking in the future, but it definitely showed her the importance of hiking with a partner and making sure you're not alone.
The deceased hiker was later identified as 47-year-old Tony Liu of Temple City. His 44-year-old wife remains hospitalized with major injuries.