The truth is, in spite of the well-developed road and recreation areas, the Sandia Mountains can play pretty rough sometimes.

It's not just close encounters with wild animals like the cougars and bears that inhabit the mountains, or a legend about a hunter's car being found a year after it had slid off the road in a snowstorm, the driver long dead or what happened in 1996 when three rock climbers on Muralla Grande on the west side of the Sandia Mountains fell to their deaths.

There is also the twisting road itself, which, if not deadly, is at least problematic.

Karen Takai, a public information officer with the Sandia Ranger District, said the point is that people need to prepare themselves, and their vehicle in some cases, for the mountain before heading out.

"People need to understand where they are going when they go into wooded areas … there's a false sense of safety for a lot of these people," she said. "It's not equal to going into a parking lot in the malls … this is not a protected environment."

Conditions on N.M. 536 can be difficult to predict, however, according to Phil Gallegos, a public information officer for the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

"The Crest Road is really difficult to get a handle on. It changes," Gallegos said.

In the aftermath of a storm, after the road has been plowed, it may not stay in great condition for long because of the way the roadway winds up the mountain, Gallegos said. The snow will melt and re-freeze on the road or may blow across the roadway and undo the work NMDOT put into plowing it.

Finding a way to deliver information about driving conditions is not an easy problem to solve, Gallegos said.

Part of Gallegos' job is to create alerts on specific roads using NMDOT's interactive map, www.nmroads.com, but said the software has some limitations that make it difficult create a more general alert about snowy or icy conditions in an broader area after a storm. Alerts about the road may not be posted on the road advisory hot line, 511 or 1-800-432-4269 either.

Add to that the fact that N.M. 536 — which heads up to Sandia Ski Area, Sandia Crest and to a popular sledding area, the Capulin Snowplay area — is low on NMDOT's list of priorities for plowing and cinders, sometimes even when the use is high over the weekend. Part of the reason is, other than a few people who work on the mountain, it is mostly used for recreation.

But heavy weekend use has led to two general problems involving vehicles on the mountain, according to Lt. Jessica Tyler, a public information officer with the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department. The first, she said, is that people park illegally along the side of the road and the second is two-wheeled drive vehicles get stuck on the snow and ice. Both issues boil down to a choke-point in the roadway.

If a skier is lost, a sledder hits his or her head or any number of emergency situations occur, it's important that the police, fire department or search and rescue be able to respond, she said.

"We need to have clear access on that road," she said.

The sheriff's department even attempted to close part of the roadway Jan. 24 but didn't have the spare officers to pull it off, Tyler said. When she checked the situation out the next Sunday Tyler said cars were still parked illegally, but most of the snow and ice had been cleared and there was less of a problem with cars being stuck on the side of the road.

For the most part, those who park illegally are given verbal warnings, she said. For enforcement, the sheriff's department takes its cues from the Forest Service, which has it's own branch of law enforcement. She added that the no-parking signs are not posted as often as the sheriff's department would like. Those signs are often knocked down by snowplows, she said.

Takai agreed that managing the public and use of the mountain is challenging. She said one solution could setting up portable electronic signs at the base of the mountain, adding that the Sandia Ranger District has spoken with NMDOT and the Sheriff's Department about that and other possible improvements. She also advises that visitors use caution and be prepared with food, water, winter clothing and blankets and bring snow chains.

"People need to be aware of the possibility of some challenging situations," she said. "If you're not ready for that, don't go into the mountain."