First-Time Climber’s Chilling Realization After 500-Foot Fall

A first-time climber has revealed the terrifying moment he realized he could die after plunging nearly 500 feet down Mount Shasta. Zubayir Kazi, 24, had never completed an icy summit before attempting the California mountain alone on September 10. Despite scouting part of the route five days earlier, he said conditions were “much worse than I expected.” After reaching the summit around 7:30 p.m., disaster struck on the descent. “Everything I had with me just goes out of my hand and I find myself flying down the mountain,” Kazi told NBC Bay Area. He lost his food, water, phone and light during the fall. Badly injured and alone, he knew he had to keep moving. “If I stay here and fall asleep, I’m going to die,” he said. Hours later, he crawled to base camp, where another climber found him and raised the alarm. Kazi suffered severe skin and nerve damage and internal complications, and doctors told him he could have died within hours. “When the officers came in, it was the first time I really realized how badly I was injured. They said, ‘You have no skin behind your leg,’” Kazi said.

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