Heavy rains brought down a huge chunk of dirt onto the road that leads to the Magdalena Ridge Observatory on Friday, July 23, which made it a little difficult for astronomers and construction workers who were on the job that day make it off the mountain.

The landslide that swept across the road mid-afternoon made the road, for the most part, impassable until heavy equipment could be used to clear away the rock and dirt.

Van Romero, New Mexico Tech's vice president of research, said the landslide happened on the switchback portion of the road leading up to the observatory, about two-thirds of the way up. He said there were four astronomers and two construction workers who were working at the observatory when the landslide occurred.

"We had a really heavy downpour, particularly in one location," Romero said in a July 26 telephone interview. "The earth above gave way and slid down on the road."

Romero explained that the landslide was about 8 feet deep on the "mountain side" of the road and approximately 1 foot deep on the far side of the road.

The first people who came down the road saw the blocked road and called the campus to alert them to the situation, Romero explained. They then parked their vehicle above the slide and climbed over the dirt-covered road to a vehicle that took them the rest of the way down the mountain.

"Everybody got down," Romero said. "And we had the road cleared by Friday so it was passable."

Romero went on to say on Saturday, July 24, they ran a blade up and down the road, and when he personally traveled up the road on Sunday, it was in great condition.

Sandy Kieft, research administrator with Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, said in a July 26 telephone interview that nobody was stuck at their facility, which is located near the observatory, and the ones that did come down that afternoon had driven over the landslide.

Although more rain fell over the weekend, Romero said it was a steady, gentle rain, unlike the downpour on Friday, and no other problems were reported.

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