A man has died after falling approximately 2,000 feet down the Wintun Glacier along Mount Shasta’s Clear Creek climbing route. At approximately 2:27 p.m. on Friday, September 12th, 2025, Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the area of the Clear Creek Trailhead after receiving a call from a mountain climber that a man had fallen down the Wintun Glacier and disappeared.
Earlier that morning, three individual climbers had successfully summited Mount Shasta, and on the descent, two of the climbers had accidentally wandered off trail, becoming stranded on an ice sheet at the northern tip of Wintun Glacier around 13,500 feet. Realizing that they were on the wrong route, the men attempted to glissade down to a lower section of the mountain and re-enter the trail. During this process, one of the men, later identified as 45 year-old Matias Augusto Travizano of Argentina, began sliding out of control, and collided into a large boulder approximately 300 feet below his companion. Mr. Travizano appeared to have been knocked unconscious from this impact, and remained so for approximately 5-10 minutes, while the second hiker attempted to reach him and render aid.
When the second climber got within 80 feet of injured climber, Mr. Travizano regained consciousness, and started moving. Tragically, this movement dislodged him from the rock and he slid down the remainder of the glacier and out of sight. A few minutes later, the third hiker arrived, and called 911 to report the incident.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team, USFS Climbing Rangers and CHP Northern Air Operations were then called to locate Mr. Travizano. A couple hours into the search operation, CHP Air Operations found him deceased at an elevation of 10,200 feet, near the base of the Wintun Glacier.
While the Clear Creek Route is considered one of the mountain’s “safer” trails to the summit, climbers can become disoriented in low-visibility conditions, particularly when descending from the summit plateau. Once off trail, these climbers often wander into more hazardous areas in the Ash Creek or Mud Creek drainages, where accidents are more likely to occur.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office offers it’s heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of Matias Travizano. We would also like to express our gratitude to the USFS Climbing Rangers, CHP Northern Air Operations, and Siskiyou SAR volunteers for their invaluable assistance during this mission.
