Overview
- A 39-year-old Florida climber summited Mount Shasta on Sunday and then followed an erroneous GPS route onto the north-side Whitney Glacier, where he fell through a snow bridge at about 12,600 feet and severely injured his leg.
- He spent two nights exposed on the glacier with frostbite and early hypothermia before two U.S. Forest Service climbing rangers reached him Monday and provided medical care and shelter.
- High winds, whiteout and dangerous rockfall repeatedly kept helicopters from reaching the site and led Siskiyou County to mobilize more than 30 search-and-rescue personnel from multiple counties for a ground extraction.
- Rescuers carried the injured climber down to the saddle near Shastina and a California Highway Patrol helicopter landed during a narrow weather window Tuesday evening to evacuate him to a hospital for treatment of leg wounds, frostbite and hypothermia.
- The Forest Service reiterated that Avalanche Gulch is not recommended in current conditions and urged climbers to carry crampons, an ice axe, paper maps and backup plans while volunteer teams, including five trained Marin County teen rope technicians, played a key role in the rescue.