Over 14,000 feet above sea level, the almost perfect cone of Mount Shasta is one of California's tallest peaks—and remains a perennial challenge to intrepid climbers.
An early climb of Mount Shasta was reported by E. D. Pierce, whose party achieved the summit in 1854 before resorting to a rather unorthodox method of descent.
The grade being on an angle of some 75 degrees, and the top of the snow soft, we sat ourselves down on our unmentionables, feet foremost, to regulate our speed, and our walking sticks for rudders. At the word, off we sped inside of 2:40 [o'clock], and the like I never saw before in the shape of coasting. Some unshipped their rudders before reaching the quarter, (there was no such thing as stopping,) some broached to and went stern foremost, making wry faces, while others, too eager to be the first down, got up too much steam, and went end over end; while others found themselves athwart ship, and making 160 revolutions per minute. In short, it was a spirited race, as far as I can see, and that was not far, for in a trice we found ourselves in a snug little pile at the foot of the snow, gasping for breath. After examining a little, we found that some were minus hats, some boots, some pants, and others had their skins bruised, and other little et ceteras too numerous to mention. No one knew what time we made the four miles in; however, it was concluded by all that we were not over five minutes and a half on the snow. Thus ended the incidents of the day, and we arrived in camp at 3 o'clock P.M.
A national landmark, today Mount Shasta has seventeen established climbing routes and attracts over 15,000 climbers every year.
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