The body of Michael Falvo, 19, was discovered around 1 p.m. Sunday near the 9,600-foot elevation of Mt. Shasta by a California Highway Patrol helicopter, a spokeswoman for the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office said Monday.

Sheriff's officials received a report of a missing man on Mt. Shasta around 6 p.m. Saturday, said sheriff's spokeswoman Allison Giannini.

Due to darkness, however, search and rescue crews were unable to begin searching for him until Sunday morning, she said.

Falvo had been participating in 11-11-11 meditation ceremonies with others at the Old Ski Bowl and was last seen at 3 p.m. Saturday.

His friends said Falvo took off his shoes and began walking up the mountain to place a rock atop Mt. Shasta, Giannini said.

Mt. Shasta's summit is at 14,171 feet.

Giannini was unable to explain why Falvo wanted to place a rock on Mt. Shasta.

"It's a little different," she said.

Giannini said Falvo, who was with a group of about 10 people, arrived at the Old Ski Bowl on Saturday.

She did not know where he lived in the Los Angeles area.

Jacques Bleisae, manager of the The Fifth Season mountain shop in Mount Shasta, said it was clear Falvo was woefully unprepared to tackle the mountain.

"This is a serious mountain," said Bleisae, who served as a guide on Mt. Shasta for about a dozen years and has climbed it about 100 times since the mid-1990s.

This also is the time of year when route conditions on Mt. Shasta are usually at their worst, a website dedicated to Mt. Shasta climbers says.

Bleisae, 51, who keeps track of the weather conditions on Mt. Shasta and advises climbers to take the proper clothing and gear and to never climb it alone, estimated the temperature dropped to the teens or low 20s Saturday night.

He said a fresh dusting of snow lightly covered Mt. Shasta on Saturday.

"It looked pretty cold up there," he said.

"It's a formidable mountain. People have to remember that," he said.

It was unclear Monday when an autopsy will be conducted.

Submitted on 11/16/2011

Submitted by: Joan Wantland
Reference: http://www.redding.com/news/2011/nov/14/man-dies-on-mt-shasta/

Copyright © 2011 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
More information on this story currently in the slush pile. I was right...he had no climbing experience!! :-)

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Oh yeah! And climbing that mountain unprepared was generally known to be a bad idea!

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