A 49-year-old man from Santa Clara County died while hiking on Mount Shasta last week, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said this week.
David Lopez, of Campbell, collapsed while approaching Helen Lake on May 17, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. On the plateau, one can see the steep slope that begins above Helen Lake.
The Sheriff’s Department said its dispatchers received a Garmin inReach emergency notification at an elevation of 9,500 feet on the Avalanche Canyon Trail just before 7 p.m. Lopez was unresponsive.
The Sheriff’s Department said it was too dark for the pilots to conduct an air rescue.
Lopez’s hiking partner, whose name has not been released, immediately began CPR, which continued until U.S. Forest Service mountain rangers and a sheriff’s search and rescue team located the pair and attempted to revive the fallen hiker, according to authorities. By.
Lopez could not be resuscitated. Rescuers carried Lopez’s body down the mountain to Rabbit Flat, where they were met at the trailhead by a sheriff’s deputy who pronounced Lopez dead at 10:49 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities said the cause of death has not been determined pending an autopsy.
“The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office expresses its heartfelt condolences to Lopez’s family and friends and commends the U.S. Fire Marshal’s Mountaineers and Search and Rescue teams for their quick response to the distress call and lifesaving work,” the Sheriff’s statement read. Express thanks.
Monterey County Supervisor Wendy Root Askew said in a comment on the sheriff’s Facebook page that Lopez, also known as David, “lived his life and brought joy to everyone he met. So much light and joy came.
In June 2022, professional mountain guide Jillian Webster was tethering two clients to climb an avalanche canyon when one of the climbers lost his balance, causing all three to slide down the mountain. Webster died and her client was seriously injured.
Webster’s death, 32, shocked the climbing community and raised questions about the growing popularity of summiting Mount Shasta, although dozens of people have died while climbing over the years. of volcanoes, 14,179 feet above sea level.
The same day Webster and her client fell, two other climbers were seriously injured after falling more than a thousand feet from an avalanche ravine.
