Woman survives 1,500-foot fall on Mount Shasta climb

A 31-year-old novice climber survived a 1,500-foot fall on Mount Shasta after slipping on the Left of Heart variation of the Avalanche Gulch route, one of the mountain’s busiest climbing paths in Northern California. She fell from about 13,000 feet to 11,500 feet on Sunday, June 28, 2026, while climbing with two other inexperienced climbers.

Lead Climbing Ranger Nick Meyers was notified around noon by the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue coordinator. Three U.S. Forest Service climbing rangers responded with help from the California Highway Patrol, but low cloud cover blocked a helicopter from reaching the injured climber directly. Rescuers landed nearby and continued on foot into difficult alpine conditions.

When they reached her, the woman was conscious. Officials suspected a broken right ankle along with other injuries. Her climbing party helped in the rescue, and another climber in the area stopped to assist as well. The group lowered her in a rescue litter to Lake Helen, a key staging point on the mountain’s south side, where a CHP helicopter later hoisted her at about 5:30 p.m.

She was flown to Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta for further treatment. Avalanche Gulch draws many first-time and lightly experienced climbers each season, and weather, altitude and route conditions can shift quickly.

The U.S. Forest Service urged climbers to carry proper mountaineering equipment, check weather and route conditions before heading up, climb with experienced partners and have an emergency plan. The mountain has already seen more search and rescue incidents, and more fatalities, than all of 2024, according to the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and the Mt. Shasta Avalanche Center.