A San Jose man who went missing on Mount Shasta was discovered in a cabin where he had holed up after crawling in his sock feet.
The hiker who found him in the shelter notified rangers, and the injured man was taken by helicopter to a hospital.
The overnight ordeal began as the man, on a solo expedition, descended the 14,179-foot peak after reaching the summit about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10. He was glissading — “boot-skiing” — in the snowy Avalanche Gulch when he fell and slid out of control for about 500 feet, injuring his feet and sustaining several “significant lacerations,” the Mount Shasta Climbing Rangers‘ report said.
With his cellphone out of power and his feet swelling painfully, he removed his boots and crawled down the rest of the long gulch to the Horse Camp shelter, at 8,000 feet elevation.
On Sept. 11, a friend who had the man’s itinerary became concerned about not being able to reach him by phone. The climbing rangers were notified of the overdue climber, and a search crew was sent about 2 p.m. to the Avalanche Gulch area.
Two hours later, a hiker walked into the Horse Camp Cabin and found the injured man. When the rescue crew arrived, he was able to walk with assistance to a California Highway Patrol helicopter.
The climbing rangers’ report commended the man — whose name they did not release — for letting friends know of his plans and for knowing the route well enough to navigate to the cabin. They advise that anyone climbing Shasta leave plenty of daylight for the descent, ideally reaching the summit by noon.
It was the rangers’ second major rescue on Shasta in two weeks: On Aug. 31, they helped a party of three novice hikers who were stuck on the mountain overnight after using artificial intelligence to plan their trip.