Matias Augusto Travizano successfully summited the mountain on Sept. 12. But on the way back down, he veered off trail and found himself trapped alongside another hiker on an ice sheet on the northern tip of Wintun Glacier at around 13,500 feet in elevation, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office. Realizing they had lost their way, the men attempted a controlled slide down the glacier to the safety of the trail below.
Travizano was climbing the mountain solo and joined two other climbers that he met on the ascent, Meyers said. After the three climbers successfully summited Mount Shasta, two climbers, including Travizano, lost their way and wandered off route during the descent. That afternoon, clouds moved across the upper mountain and limited visibility, Meyers said. There are several routes that converge on Shasta's summit plateau, so if someone is not familiar with the terrain and they're not using navigation tools, when visibility is poor, they can go down the mountain the wrong way.