Two from Sacramento among five hurt on Mount Shasta this week; climbing guide killed
A Sacramento man and woman were among five climbers injured earlier this week across four separate incidents on Mount Shasta, all happening within a 24-hour window, sheriff’s officials said.
A sixth climber involved in the first of the four incidents, a mountain guide from Oregon, died after falling at least 1,500 feet Monday morning.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office in an update Wednesday said that the climbers in the second and third incidents reported this week were a man and woman, respectively, from Sacramento.
Both climbers were airlifted to a hospital. The woman was treated at an intensive care unit, and remained hospitalized as of Wednesday but was out of the ICU, sheriff’s officials said.
The Sacramento man suffered non-critical injuries and was released from the hospital, authorities said.
The Sheriff’s Office in statements earlier this week said the male climber fell about 1,000 vertical feet while climbing above Helen Lake around 12:30 p.m. Monday. Rangers with the U.S. Forest Service assisted him part of the way down the mountain, but he could not continue and had to be airlifted by a California Highway Patrol helicopter.
The injured woman from Sacramento was initially climbing with the man, continuing her climb after he was injured. She lost traction and also slid about 1,000 vertical feet down the mountain around 4 p.m. A climbing ranger assisted her before she was also airlifted to the hospital.
The climbing guide who suffered fatal injuries, identified by Siskiyou sheriff’s officials as 32-year-old Jillian Elizabeth Webster of Redmond, Oregon, died after falling between 1,500 and 2,500 vertical feet. Webster was airlifted to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, sheriff’s officials said.
Webster had been tether-guiding two climbers, a couple from Seattle, above Helen Lake when one of them lost their footing and all three fell. The man from Seattle was critically injured with an open fracture to his lower leg and head trauma, while his girlfriend had a broken ankle.
Both were still recovering at a hospital, the Sheriff’s Office said in Wednesday’s update.
The fourth incident happened early Tuesday morning, when a male climber fell near the Avalanche Gulch area on Mount Shasta. The same CHP helicopter located the climber and he was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday said the climber injured Tuesday, from Long Beach, is still recovering at a hospital.
The Mount Shasta Avalanche Center in a statement posted to Facebook on Wednesday said all four incidents happened on the steepest portion of the Avalanche Gulch route.
“A late-season storm over the weekend doused Mt Shasta with rain, snow, fog, and freezing temperatures, creating very icy climbing conditions,” the avalanche center wrote. “Steep slopes of Mt. Shasta are no fall zones when conditions are like this. Warming temperatures over the week will soften the icy crust.
“Continue to be cautious of icy surfaces in steep terrain and watch for active icefall.”
