Mt. Shasta Rangers Rescue an Unlikely Climber at 10,000 Feet

Rangers live year-round at the Mt. Shasta Ranger Station, providing backcountry support and rescue operations as needed. Their daily routine in the winter includes patrolling the slopes, checking snow depths, and assessing avalanche conditions. Rescues are not routine, but rangers are prepared to leap into action at a moment's notice.

And good thing, too, as rangers rescued an unlikely climber at approximately 10,000 feet on December 24, 2024.

Rangers Nick Meyers and Eric Falconer were out for a routine patrol when they stumbled upon an unprepared, struggling climber. They were luckily able to package the climber and transport them to lower elevation safely. The only catch: the climber was a goose.

It is the first reported rescue of a goose on Mt. Shasta, and the Shasta-Trinity Forest Service joked, "the climber (flyer?) had on only one layer of down and was neither prepared for the temperature nor overnight camping."

The goose seemed to have flown most of the way, later walking on its webbed feet along the slopes when flying became impossible.

Ranger Meyers recounted the rescue in a statement: "It was pretty battered. It couldn't fly, but we still had trouble catching it, so I kind of dove on it."

But the goose remained calm as Meyers and Falconer transported it down the mountain via snowmobile and released it into a pond. When Meyers checked on it on Christmas Day, he reported that the bird seemed to be doing just fine.

While rescue operations in the mountains are unfortunately common, animal rescues are less so. And this very well may have been the first ever rescue of a goose by forest rangers. Luckily, goose and rangers alike are all doing well.