Julian Sands Reflected on the Dangers of Hiking Months Before His Death

Julian Sands spoke about the perilous aspects of hiking in an interview occurring months before he went missing during a solo hike and was later discovered dead.

Last year, the English actor recalled the “spooky things” he once encountered during a scary hiking experience.

“I’ve found spooky things on mountains, when you know you’re in a place where many people have lost their lives, whether it be on the Eiger or in the Andes. You may be confronted with human remains and that can be chilling,” Sands previously told the Radio Times, per The Guardian.

“Pals I used to climb with have stopped going to the mountains,” he continued. “If you don’t really have the desire, the focus for climbing a route, if you’re not absolutely committed, it becomes much more dangerous.”

Sands was confirmed dead on June 27 after his remains were discovered in Mount Baldy, California. The Warlock actor had been missing since January after embarking on a hike in the area. He was 65. 

After authorities confirmed Sands’ death, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department shared a statement from the late star’s family. 

“We are deeply grateful to the search teams and coordinators who have worked tirelessly to find Julian,” his family said. “We continue to hold Julian in our hearts with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and as an original and collaborative performer.”

Tough weather conditions in the area of Mount Baldy made the months-long search for Sands difficult. And in his Radio Times interview, Sands detailed how when one is hiking, they're “in the presence of big nature and big nature is revealing itself in all its power.”

“It can take us over a threshold of hypersensitivity into a realm of natural forces,” he added of the unexpected weather conditions hikers may face.

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The A Room with a View actor had a near-death hiking experience in the early 1990s. At the time, he got caught with a group in a storm 20,000 feet above ground and was left “in a very bad way.”

“Some guys close to us perished. We were lucky,” Sands shared in a 2020 interview with The Guardian. Despite the scary experience, the actor said he was happiest when he was “close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning.”