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A story disputed by historians claims that when a Spanish explorer first saw Mount Shasta, he dubbed it “Jesus and Maria,” inspired by what appeared to be its double peaks. Now, around two centuries later, that mythic name has been brought to life with the installation of a towering Virgin Mary statue on the slopes of the mighty volcano.
The 20-foot statue sits in the Mount Shasta Ski Park, California’s largest ski resort north of Lake Tahoe. When a prominent Northern California family purchased the park in 2017, patriarch Ray Merlo envisioned a massive bronze statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the slopes. Though he passed away in July 2020 before seeing his dream come true, his wife Robin fulfilled it in December with the unveiling of “Our Lady of Mt. Shasta.”
Standing at about 6,600 feet on Shasta’s slope, the statue has become a focal point for discussions on the intersection of faith, culture and the natural landscape. While some view it as a meaningful tribute, others see it as an unwelcome addition to one of the region’s most revered mountains.
A December 2023 Facebook post by the ski park describes the statue as a “personal” project that was “very important to our owner as this was a shared goal with [Robin’s] late husband and business partner, Ray Merlo.” Robin Merlo reflected that, “This statue is a promise fulfilled and a true representation of the dedication to family that we all value so much here at the Ski Park.”
The protectors of Shasta
Opposition to the statue began brewing once the plans for it were announced. A year ago, a Change.org petition, launched by an individual known as “Joe Skibum,” gained 3,315 supporters who argued the statue would “threaten to disrupt this cherished environment” and potentially “alienate members of our diverse community who do not share the same religious beliefs.”
The petition’s author celebrated the nearly 6,600 foot summit of Douglas Butte as “one of the most beautiful natural vistas” the ski park has to offer. The placement of the Virgin Mary’s statue at that particular spot would blemish the summit’s untouched beauty and spiritual essence, free from the intrusion of religious symbols, the petition said.
The petition called on the Merlos to “cease and desist this construction project immediately” and urged the U.S. Forest Service, which grants the ski park’s use permits, to halt the statue’s installation.
Commenters on the petition were outspoken. Ann from Chico, California, declared, “Keep religion out of skiing!!!! We ski to enjoy the beauty of nature — not to be preached at by religious NUTS.” Donny from Redding called the statue “an annoyance and waste of resources.”
Shawnee Kasanke, a critic of the statue who was raised near the mountain, told SFGATE the statue symbolizes a painful history. “These types of statues erected on sacred land represent the devastation caused by missionary colonizers and their disrespect for and attempted erasure of Native traditions, sacred spaces, and ways of life to many of us,” she said.
While she acknowledges the intent to honor a beloved family and community member, Kasanke argued that the statue’s placement perpetuates harm and said the ski park “has a long history of infringing” on tribal rights and land. “The placement of this statue is just another slap in the face to some of us who have been fighting to defend sacred land and natural spaces from further defacement by colonization, especially by Christian symbolism,” she said.
A recent graduate with a doctorate in environmental science, Kasanke’s concerns extended beyond cultural implications to the environmental impact of such projects. “This goes beyond indigenous culture to the need for intact natural spaces to be conserved without unnecessary infrastructure that only caters to a few very entitled people,” she told SFGATE.
Traci Roberti, a lifelong skier from Anderson, California, which is about an hour south of Mount Shasta, told SFGATE, “I don’t personally care if the statue stays or goes.” However, she said that Native American tribes and New Age practitioners “are able to enjoy their form of worship without planting a flag or erecting statues, leaving room on the mountain for all faiths to feel welcome.”
Roberti recounted the tale of Shasta’s Old Ski Bowl, the mountain’s first ski park, which met its demise when a catastrophic avalanche destroyed its ski lifts. To her, the story serves as a cautionary tale for Mount Shasta Ski Park to respect the mountain’s power. Operating from 1959 to 1978, the Old Ski Bowl was perched above the tree line and lay exposed to Shasta’s relentless winds and freezing temperatures.
“The resort wanted to grow and expand and was trying to fight the government for more permits, but the mountain decided and bankrupted the company with disaster,” Roberti said. That disaster came in January 1978, when a massive avalanche obliterated a major section of the ski lift, causing over $200,000 in damages.
Denied the permits needed to rebuild or expand, the owners couldn’t recover. “The mountain won,” Roberti said.
The spirits of Shasta
Long before the Virgin Mary statue, Mount Shasta has captivated spiritual and cultural imaginations. Indigenous peoples such as the Modoc, Wintu, Shasta, AjumawiAtsuwegi, Karuk, and Klamath wove the peak into their myths, including one where an ancient chief commanded giants to pile baskets of earth to create the mountain and glimpse the ocean.
Later in 1875, naturalist John Muir described the volcano as “a colossal cone rising in solitary grandeur,” worthy of reverence as “an object of religious worship.” And in his 1905 book, “A Dweller on Two Planets,” Frederick Spencer Oliver described a temple hidden deep within Mount Shasta. The book then inspired Wishar S. Cerve’s 1931 “Lemuria: The Lost Continent of the Pacific,” which proposed that an ancient population was living in caverns beneath the mountain.
The link between Mount Shasta and spiritualism is so profound that academic research has explored how spiritual pilgrims impact resource management in the area surrounding the mountain. Even in a Dec. 14 statement shared with SFGATE, the ski park described the purpose of “Our Lady of Shasta” almost prophetically. Without directly responding to criticisms that it was evangelizing or disrespecting the faiths that had come before, it called the statue a symbol of “a deep connection to the area’s beauty and tranquility,” aimed at promoting “faith, kindness, love, and peace on earth.”
For now, the Change.org petition remains online, a reminder of the community opposition to a 20-foot Virgin Mary standing on the volcano. But while the Virgin Mary statue has its critics, it also has countless supporters. Comments on the Ski Park’s social media post announcing the statue installation ranged from “Beautiful” and “This is amazing” to “Thank you for this incredible gift to our community” and “It’s stunning!”
From sfgate.com
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