SHASTA, Calif. — A man and woman from Sacramento were among the six climbers injured in separate accidents while trying to summit the peak of Mount Shasta in treacherous conditions.
Starting on Monday at 8:35 a.m., the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office responded to four separate rescue operations involving six injured Mount Shasta climbers within less than 24 hours.
32-year-old Jillian Webster from Redmond Oregon was involved in the first incident. She was leading a man and a woman from Seattle, Washington on Monday morning when one of the climbers slipped. All three, who were roped together, then fell 1,500 to 2,500 feet, the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office said.
Webster was pronounced dead at a hospital while a rescue team found the man in critical condition with a head injury and a broken leg. The woman suffered a broken ankle. The couple is now recovering in the hospital.
According to deputies, shortly after, a Sacramento man was injured after falling about 1,000 feet (300 meters) at 12:30 p.m. At 4 p.m., a Sacramento woman who was part of the same trio of climbers also fell 1,000 feet and was airlifted to a hospital.
Deputies say the man has been released from the hospital and the woman is out of the ICU, but is still recovering in the hospital.
Following the second and third incidents, a man from Long Beach was rescued. He is still recovering in the hospital.
At about 14,180 feet (4,322 meters), Shasta is California's fifth-tallest mountain and is located 275 miles (443 kilometers) north of San Francisco. It draws about 6,000 climbers to the summit each season.
Deputies say a late-season storm over the weekend created icy climbing conditions as Mount Shasta was doused with rain, snow, fog and freezing temperatures.
Following this weekend's injuries and one fatality, the sheriff's office has advised climbers to stay off the mountain until they can better evaluate the conditions.
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