With weather getting calmer and a good snowpack remaining on Mount Shasta, climbing season has begun. On Saturday a climber called 9-1-1 from more than 12,000 feet elevation with a broken femur, after having just survived an avalanche that swept him down from 13,000 feet. The caller’s climbing partner had avoided sliding, but had an injured knee. The strong wind and poor visibility Saturday prevented sending a helicopter for a rescue, so the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue joined Forest Service Climbing Rangers. The man with the injured knee was able to snowboard down the mountain, but the man with the broken leg was showing signs of Frostbite and Hypothermia, so he heeded a technical evacuation that finally reached Bunny Flats 11 hours after the initial call.
– Steve Gibson