How To Fall Off A Mountain

Rich Benbrook

Using the Maps

Mount Whitney

Monarch Lake

Vidette Meadow

Cottonwood Lakes

Onion Valley to
Whitney Portal

Symmes Creek to
Mineral King

Mount Tyndall

Whitney Group

Mount Shasta

Mount Williamson

Palisades

Middle Palisade
Revisited

Thunder Mountain

Middle Palisade
Try Again

Middle Palisade
Take Three

Mount Sill

Thunderbolt Peak
Climbing Up

Thunderbolt Peak
Climbing Down

Thunderbolt Peak
Rescue

Aerial Photos

National Park Service Search and Rescue

Links

Mount Shasta

maps:

In June 1994, Kelly and I climbed Mount Shasta in Northern California. We camped the first night at Horse Camp, and the following day donned crampons and set out to climb the snow and ice up to Helen Lake. We reached the still-frozen lake just as a terrible windstorm was reaching its full fury. Already one tent had broken its tether and was swirling around on a column of air along the ridges thousands of feet above the popular camp area. We pitched our tent, tied it down as best we could, and retreated inside to what little shelter it offered.

No liquid water was to be found, so we melted snow with the camp stove. It was so cold that by the time we poured the boiling water into a drinking cup and started drinking, it had already cooled significantly, and within only a few minutes would once again be frozen.

I'd previously experienced wind measured in excess of 60 miles per hour; this was much stronger. The wind swirled around the mountains, so there was no upwind or downwind. Urination was a challenge to say the least. When nature called, I walked as far from the tent as possible, and let it fly. Because of the wind and the cold, no stream of urine appeared. Rather, a swirling cloud of yellow ice crystals indicated the mission was accomplished.

The wind continued to strengthen into the night. The tent was periodically flattened by strong down-gusts blowing off higher ridges, and glowed in the eerie yellow-green light of static electricity. There was no possibility that we could climb in these conditions. If the cold didn't freeze us in our tracks, the wind would surely blow us off the summit. We considered whether or not we could extend our trip and wait out the storm in our tent. We also considered the native American legends regarding the spirituality of this mountain. We decided that perhaps we needed to pay homage to those beliefs, and asked the mountain for permission to climb. Soon after, we fell asleep.

When we awoke in the morning, the air was clear, crisp and still. It was a perfect summit day. Using our crampons and ice axes, we started up toward the peak. We made decent time and reached the summit of Mount Shasta (14,162'; 6 of 15) on schedule. The trip back down to camp was exhilarating. We simply sat down on the snow, held our axes above our heads, and slid down on our behinds. Many had come down this way before, and an impromptu bobsled track had formed. We reached the gentle runout at Helen Lake, broke camp and returned to the car.

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