This is the Sierra Club Emergency lodge which is usually manned by a paid employee by May or June of most years until around October or November. The employee is like a guide and rescues people off the mountain and is an experienced mountaineer. I have known 3 of the employees who did this since 1969 when I first camped there with friends from college. I still am in contact with all three Sierra Club employees who have manned this guide and rescue post for climbers of Mt. Shasta. Several people tend to die climbing Mt. Shasta each year and as the number of climbers increase likely so will the potential deaths according to the laws of probability. The problems climbers face is first experience and then their own health and then knowledge of what can actually happen in an above tree line Alpine experience. Many people are somewhat prepared but not prepared enough to survive what they encounter on this mountain above tree line which is around 8000 to 8500 feet here up to the over 14,000 foot summit.
What I did was when I reached here in April of 1973 with a backpack and guitar case on my back while wearing snow shoes was first to find the snow shovel left up against the front door so I used one of my snow shoes as a makeshift shovel until I dug down enough to reach the snow shovel. Remember, I was 25 and in very good physical shape so this was no problem for me then because I was already an experienced mountain climber and had already climbed Mt. Shasta to the summit with 3 friends in August of 1970. Then I cleared the snow away from a window facing the mountain so I could see the mountain during the day. Then I climbed up where the roof was and removed the snow from the chimney so I could build a fire in the wood stove inside to keep warm then. I'm not sure this would all work for you now though because this is definitely a different time with different rules than then. But, it is still an emergency shelter year around for climbers to survive on the mountain, especially if they are injured. The snow is approximately 10 to 20 feet deep in this picture here because it comes up to the level of the bottom of the roof at least. And on this side if it is still there there is a 3 foot high rock wall before you reach the base of the building.
You can also see the chimney of the building to the right in the picture.
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