Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
On Saturday, April 27th at approximately 12:30pm, two experienced climbers with snowboards were ascending left of The Heart in upper Avalanche Gulch on Mount Shasta when they triggered a wind slab avalanche at approximately 13,000 feet. Both were caught and carried approximately 1,000 vertical feet, sustaining serious injuries, but not buried. One of the climbers was able to self rescue with an internal knee injury. The other climber suffered a broken femur and deep crampon puncture wound, requiring a long, arduous ground evacuation from 12,200 feet, down Avalanche Gulch, back to Bunny Flat trailhead at 6,950 feet, a distance of about 4 miles. California Highway Patrol air resources attempted rescue, but were unable to provide aid in whiteout conditions. Both climbers made it safely off the mountain by midnight with rescue assistance from USFS climbing rangers, Siskiyou County SAR and numerous outfitter mountain guides on the mountain at the time. Thank you to all that were involved. Without helicopter evacuation, this is a good example of the time and effort required to execute a rescue on Mount Shasta, despite being 15 minutes off the interstate. Climbing in limited visibility conditions always makes for more risk should something go wrong.
Current climbing conditions in Avalanche Gulch are variable. From Bunny Flat up to 9,000 feet, the snowpack warmed signifcantly making for wet, knee deep post-holing conditions. Above 9,000 feet and up to 12,200 feet, 2-6 inches of new snow accumulation has built into punchy drifts up to two feet deep on leeward, SE-S-SW aspects. In some areas above Lake Helen there are panels of smooth soft snow, smooth ice and rime ice "chicken heads".
Weather
- Air Temp
- 15-30
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Rain Elevation
- 5,900
- Recent Snowfall
- 2-6 inches
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Partly cloudy skies in the morning quickly deterioted to obscured whiteout conditions above 8,000 feet by 1300, then clearing after 1800. Wind was blowing out of the NW at 20-30 miles per hour. Light snow was being moderately loaded onto SE-S-SW aspects-predominately above 10,000 feet.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1 R2
- Type
- SS
- Aspect
- SE
- Trigger
- AF
- Elevation
- 13000 ft
Two climbers triggered a wind slab avalanche near the top of the Avalanche Gulch, Left of Heart. Spaced about 20 feet apart, the higher climber arrested their fall while the lower climber was carried further downslope. Once the avalanche came to a stop, climber one realized a knee injury, though was able to sideslip down on their snowboard to the lower climber who had sustained a broken femur and large crampon laceration and puncture to the lower leg, preventing self rescue.