UPDATED: Police identify climber who died in fall near Sandia Crest

8:48 p.m. — State Police have identified the rock climber as 35-year-old Carlos Cox of Albuquerque as the man who fell from a cliff Friday afternoon about a mile below Sandia Crest near La Luz trail.

Cox fell at least 100 yards, police said, and rolled another 40 yards before coming to a resting place. He was dead by the time search-and-rescue crews found him.

Those crews are now beginning the arduous process of hauling Cox’s remains off the mountain through more than a mile of rocky terrain, according to a State Police spokesman.

Cox’s wife is at the crest after being notified about her husband’s death. It’s so far unknown if Cox had any children.

Keep with ABQJournal.com for updates.

An adult male climber likely fell off a cliff in the Sandias on Friday afternoon and was found dead by the time search and rescue crews reached him near La Luz trail.

Hikers heard the man screaming in pain around 2 p.m. and called police. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office helicopter then searched the area and found the man lying in a mound of snow in rocky terrain near the trail about a mile from the peak.

Since the helicopter couldn’t touch down to help the man, on-the-ground search and rescue crews were sent in to try and rescue the climber. He was dead by the time crews arrived, according to a spokesman with New Mexico State Police.

The man was found wearing a climber’s helmet and had rappelling gear nearby, though it’s unclear yet where he could have been climbing or how far he might have fallen.

The man’s identity has not yet been released while his family is being notified.

Meanwhile, search and rescue crews are trying to figure out a way to take the man’s body out of the mountain. The man’s body is in a precarious area and it’s nearing nightfall, the spokesman said, so crews might have to wait until morning to remove the man’s remains.

Keep with ABQJournal.com for updates.