Injured climber crawls down California's Mount Shasta in overnight ordeal

Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times on Sep 15, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — An injured climber crawled down a portion of Mount Shasta after losing control and sliding nearly 500 feet, officials said.

The San José man summited the mountain around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement posted to Facebook. Then his cellphone died, the statement said.

He attempted to glissade — a mountaineering technique in which climbers slide down a snowy slope using ice axes to steer and brake — but lost control, suffering lacerations to his legs and injuries to his feet, according to the Forest Service.

The hiker crawled through the night, down the remainder of Avalanche Gulch to Horse Camp Cabin, at one point removing his boots due to painful swelling, the agency said.

Another hiker found the man in the cabin at 4 p.m. Friday and told Mount Shasta Climbing Rangers, who had already been mobilized after friends of the injured man became concerned and reported him missing, according to the Forest Service.

The man was airlifted to a nearby hospital for treatment, the Forest Service said.