Over the weekend, two mountain climbers who were planning to snowboard down Mount Shasta in California were carried away by an avalanche. They were rescued after a terrifying 11-hour rescue mission, highlighting the inherent risks associated with the mountain.
The two, who were described as experienced climbers, were trying to reach the summit on Saturday when something went wrong. One of them fell 1,000 feet down Avalanche Gulch after a massive avalanche engulfed them, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).
The SCSO received a panicked 911 call just before noon. A wounded climber said that he was trapped at a dangerous elevation of 12,200 feet, and that his partner was buried even lower on the icy incline.
The best option, helicopter deployment, ran into a serious challenge in the form of strong winds and poor visibility. This resulted in a last-minute ground rescue operation. Together with a group of willing mountain guides and US Forest Service Climbing Rangers, the SCSO Search and Rescue Team was formed.
A brief respite in the weather presented a window of chance. Though still 6,000 feet below the stranded climbers, the helicopter made a safe landing just above the tree line. As night fell, the rescuers made the difficult trek up on foot.
Their tenacity paid off. They arrived at the wounded men by midnight and prepared them for transportation. Even with their experience, both climbers were injured. One had a problem with his knee, but the other was severely injured by the avalanche, breaking his femur and puncturing his deep wound. Fortunately, their wounds did not pose a serious threat to their lives, and they were getting better at a nearby hospital.
The SCSO noted that, “it’s worth noting that the two climbers caught in the April 27 avalanche were highly skilled mountaineers with extensive experience on Mount Shasta.”
“Their ordeal and the 11-hour rescue process that followed are reminders that no amount of experience makes one immune to the hazards encountered on Mount Shasta, and that ever-changing mountain conditions can turn a rapid-extraction operations into a time and resource-intensive process,” the department concluded.
The names of the climbers involved were not released by the authorities.
