Mount Shasta Rangers Rescue 31-Year-Old After 1,500-Foot Slide as Weather Delays Airlift
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 2
Mount Shasta Rangers Rescue 31-Year-Old After 1,500-Foot Slide as Weather Delays Airlift
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 2
Summary
A 31-year-old novice climber survived a roughly 1,500-foot slide on Mount Shasta after slipping near the 13,000-foot level on the Avalanche Gulch route Sunday.
Cloud cover blocked a direct California Highway Patrol helicopter pickup, so U.S. Forest Service climbing rangers were dropped lower on the mountain and hiked in to stabilize her.
Rangers then lowered the woman by rescue litter to Lake Helen, where a CHP helicopter finally landed and flew her to Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta at about 5:37 p.m.
The rescue took about 5 1/2 hours; officials said she suffered a suspected fractured ankle and other injuries but was alert and in good spirits.
Forest Service officials said such slips become more common later in Shasta's climbing season, when melting snow, harder ice and loose rock make the 14,179-foot peak more hazardous for inexperienced climbers.