Mount Shasta

Date: April 23, 2021.

Partners: Roy and Todd.

Stats: 12.5 miles with 6,000 feet of vertical gain.  No summit.

Links: Mountain weather.  Climbing advisory.  Strava

Mount Shasta from the north, heading south on I-5.  Shastina is on the right.

Mount Shasta and the Avalanche Gulch from the Bunny Flat trail head.

We had originally planed to try Shasta as part of an epic tour of the Cascades in late May/ early June and were planning to climb something in the 10-12k range in Idaho this weekend. However, due to the very low snowpack we decided it was now or next year to try Shasta. We had a narrow window of time, but at least that lined up with our narrow weather window. We would try a one day ascent involving 7,000 feet of climbing to 14, 162 feet in elevation. The plan/ desire was to ski this bad boy, but the low to non-existent snowpack said otherwise.

After the road trip down there, we ended up tossing our tents up at the end of the parking lot for a few hours of sleep. Alarms set for 0200, departing at 0300. It was a clear, cold and windy night. The forecast for the next day was clear, cold and windy with a storm coming in somewhere between 1600 and 2000 with potential for some serious wind and heavy snow.

At least we were at the trail head and this would save us some time in the morning.  We actually registered the night before since the summit pass is good for 3 days.  After wrestling the tents up in the wind, a Mountain House for dinner and chasing some Pringles with a beer, we called it a night.

Dirt bagging it in a parking lot.

The next morning came in clear and cold.  We set off on the snow not being super sure of the route. We ended up more or less following the trail on the GPS/ map up to Horse Camp and tree line.  It was here that we had had enough of the shenanigan's with the snow.  We'd been playing the off again/ on again game and we lost.  The snow was not going to get better and skiing was out of the question.  What little snow that was present was a gnarly mix of sun cup/ sastrugi, with some of it being waist deep.  We ditched the planks and soldiered on.  With a decent snow pack, this would be a straight forward just head up route, but we were dealing with the ups and downs of moraines and trying to keep on the most efficient line.

Getting started.  Photo by Todd.

Looking up from just above tree line.

We had decided to take the "Left of Heart" variation on the Avalanche Gulch Route, instead of taking the "normal" line toward Thumb Rock.  This would be a steeper line, but more straight forward and hopefully avoid an epic scree-fest.  However this did expose us to more rock fall from the Red Banks.  We kept our heads up and our eyes open, but noted that it was fairly quiet.  There had been recent reports of rock Vs human encounters though, so this was no place for a picnic.

Roy and I climbing.  Photo by Todd.

Upper route showing the continuous line of snow, the "left of heart" variation.

Todd and Roy and the base of Casaval Ridge.

Break time, probably near Lake Helen.

We started gaining altitude, although progress was hard to gauge given the huge scale of this route.  Our plan called for summiting or turning around by 1200.  Even though we were finally getting up high, our progress was slow due to the altitude.  By "our" I mean Roy and I's. Todd had just finished the Idaho 12'ers two weeks ago, so while not only being super fit and the youngest guy in the squad, he was also riding a bit of previous acclimatization that Roy and I didn't have.  

Roy climbing.

Looking down what could be an epic ski descent.

Funky snow.

Roy and Todd gutting it out.

Roy enjoying the climb.

At 1130, conversation ensued.  We were at approx 12,600 feet, but the storm was on its way and we were still too far off from the summit to continue.  There was no reason to force a bad situation just for the sake of maybe reaching a summit.  We decided that we would have a nice rest, enjoy the view and not thrash ourselves on the descent.

High point.

Heading down.

Clouds rolling in.

Having a little fun.

Todd boot skiing.

The Mountain was no longer happy.

The snow had softened up a bit, so going down wasn't as bad as we thought it could be.  As we got lower, we could see that there was a lenticular cloud over the summit now.  I for one was glad I wasn't up there.  After a lot of walking in ski boots, one short glissade and one half-assed attempt to ski just above tree line under our belts, we got back to the parking lot none the worse for wear.  We made tracks for the town of Mount Shasta to camp down lower and avoid the brunt of the storm.

Hopefully it will be a different story when I make it back, when conditions are better.