Surviving Mount Shasta Climber’s Story

by John Soares on April 3, 2010

I wrote yesterday about the tragic death of Thomas Bennett on Mount Shasta.

Today the Redding Record Searchlight has a follow-up in which Bennett’s climbing partner Mark Thomas discusses the Mount Shasta climbing fatality:

As wind and snow pounded the summit of Mt. Shasta on Sunday, Mark Thomas tried to keep his climbing partner alive.

Each time Thomas “Tom” Bennett Jr. faded on him, Thomas tried to bring him back with a question.

When the brain teasers failed and Bennett stopped answering, Thomas switched to cardiopulmonary resuscitation and called 911 about 9 a.m.

For close to 45 minutes, Thomas tried to breathe and squeeze life back into Bennett Jr. after an emergency dispatcher told him weather would likely keep rescuers from climbing to their perch close to the 14,179-foot mountain’s summit.

Read the rest of the story.

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