Daring 11 hour mission saves experienced climbers in California
On April 27, a daring rescue mission lasted 11 hours, and ended up saving two experienced hikers in northern California.
The climbers told dispatch they tried to summit Mount Shasta and snowboard down the Avalanche Gulch Route, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.
But, they triggered a wind slab avalanche at 13,000 feet, which swept them down 1,000 feet.
Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff said in a social media post that this is when the climbers called for help. One of the two men broke his femur during the fall, the other hurt his knee.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team, the USFS Climbing Rangers and a group of professional mountain guide volunteers mobilized on the ground to begin an extraction, the sheriff’s office said.
CHP helicopters brought first responders to an area 3,500 vertical feet below the injured climbers, and rescuers were able to find the injured men at about 6:20 p.m. and started to treat their injuries.
The man with the injured femur was showing signs of frostbite and hypothermia, the sheriff’s office said. The other man with the injured knee was able to self-rescue and snowboard back to the trailhead.
Both are expected to make a full recovery.
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