FALL ON SNOW, FAILURE TO FOLLOW ROUTE, PLACED NO PROTECTION

California, Mount Shasta

On September 2, Lawrence Macupa (38) and David Vanderryn (32) climbed the Hotlum glacier route on Mount Shasta. The “normal” descent for the Hotlum glacier route is to go down the Hotlum-Wintun (“Hottun”) snowfield. They went off-route and descended a snowfield that steepens and changes into a steep chute full of blue ice. During the descent, the victims fell/slid 50+ meters through the ice chute and over a series of cliffs and ledges onto the body of the Hotlum glacier at 3700 meters. When other climbers reached the pair, one was dead and one was believed to have a faint pulse but died shortly thereafter. The victims were using ice axes and crampons at the time of their fall. (Source: Tom Grossman, Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit)