Mount Shasta climber survives 1,500-foot slide after weather-delayed rescue
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A 31-year-old climber survived a 1,500-foot slide down California’s Mount Shasta after bad weather forced rescuers to abandon plans for a helicopter rescue, sending rangers hiking up the mountain on foot before he was rushed to hospital.
A woman was climbing the Left of Heart variant of the popular Avalanche Gulch trail on Sunday with two other hikers when she slipped near an elevation of 13,000 feet and came to rest about 1,500 vertical feet below, according to the US Forest Service.
Cloud cover prevented a California Highway Patrol helicopter from directly reaching the injured climber, forcing the rescue to be carried out in stages.
FREE RESCUEERS BOUGHT UNDER 16,000-POUND BAND ON OREGON’S MOUNT HOOD IN DIFFICULT JOB
Climbing rangers and rescuers are evacuating an injured climber on Mount Shasta after he slipped nearly 1,500 vertical feet while climbing. (US Forest Service / Mount Shasta Climbing Rangers via Facebook)
“Weather complicated the problem,” an officer with the California Highway Patrol Office of Air Operations and Redding Air Unit told Fox News Digital.
Since the helicopter could not reach the woman, it dropped US Forest Service rangers down on Mount Shasta, where they boarded the patient while air crews waited for better weather.
Once the rangers stabilized the climber, they carefully lowered him in a rescue litter to Lake Helen, where a CHP helicopter was finally able to land and take him to Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta at approximately 5:37 p.m.
FREE RESCUEERS BOUGHT UNDER 16,000-POUND BAND ON OREGON’S MOUNT HOOD IN DIFFICULT JOB
US Forest Service climbers lower an injured climber down Mount Shasta after sliding nearly 1,500 vertical feet on the Avalanche Gulch trail Sunday. Cloud cover prevented a helicopter rescue. (US Forest Service / Mount Shasta Climbing Rangers via Facebook)
The rescue took about five and a half hours from the first emergency call to the evacuation of the helicopter.
Although the distance sounds unusual, Shasta-Trinity National Forest officials said the incident was not just a free fall.
Stokesbury said the climber’s descent was a long slide down the snow slope rather than a straight free cliff, a gradual descent down the mountain.
FREE RESCUEERS BOUGHT UNDER 16,000-POUND BAND ON OREGON’S MOUNT HOOD IN DIFFICULT JOB
“It starts to go up and then gradually levels off,” Stokesbury told Fox News Digital. “It does enough for them to stop.”
Officials said climbers are taught to tie themselves to the ice ax after skiing, but novice climbers often struggle to do the job before going uphill.
The woman suffered a suspected broken ankle and other injuries but remained alert and in good spirits when rescuers arrived, according to the Foreti Service.
A CHP aviation officer also described the area as unforgiving.
“That part of the mountain is very steep and like a piece of furniture,” the official told Fox News Digital. “People take a small slide up, there’s nothing to arrest that decline for long.”
Forest Service officials said the incident followed a pattern seen late in the Mount Shasta climbing season.
“Slips and falls happen all the time at that level,” Stokesbury said, adding that April, May and early June generally provide the safest climbing conditions.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter prepares to evacuate an injured climber from Mount Shasta after weather delayed an earlier air rescue attempt. (US Forest Service / Mount Shasta Climbing Rangers via Facebook)
As summer approaches, snow begins to melt, ice hardens and rocks loosen, increasing the risk of falls and rockfalls.
“This is no ordinary hiking trail,” Stokesbury said. “You’ve got to make sure you’re in shape, you’ve got the right gear.”
The Forest Service encourages climbers to carry hiking equipment including an ice ax and crampons when conditions require, monitor changing weather and trail conditions, climb with experienced partners and have an emergency plan before attempting the 14,179-foot volcano.
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“Before attempting a summit, be honest about your experience and physical condition,” the US Forest Service said on Facebook.
The rescue was carried out by Mount Shasta’s special ranger program, which spends each climbing season educating visitors, monitoring mountain conditions and responding to emergencies on one of the nation’s busiest climbing routes.
