many things to many people.
For climbers, it is a challenge -- for, though not the tallest of mountains, Mount Shasta is prepared to serve up unannounced ice storms that can separate climbers from their parties and sometimes from their lives.
For skiers, it is a comfortable and beautiful site for winter sports.
For dreamers and mystics, it is a source of universal energy that flows in rivers from its slopes and glows from its very core.
For artists and photographers, it is an everchanging object of study and admiration.
For "locals" it is the focus of every waking day . . . looking over shoulders and peering into windows every day of their lives.
For all who see the mountain, it is beautiful beyond the imagination and remains at arm's length for those who seek to define it scientifically.
