Basic Alpine Climb - Mount Shasta/Avalanche Gulch

Trip

Basic Alpine Climb - Mount Shasta/Avalanche Gulch

We'll try again for a Memorial Day climb of Mt. Shasta (standard route). Priority to those on canceled 2019 climb. Make a Plan B for weather.

  • Fri, May 22, 2020 — Mon, May 25, 2020
  • Olympia Basic Alpine Climbing
  • Climbing
  • Basic Alpine
  • Adults
  • M2G Advanced Glacier Ski, Basic Alpine Climb
  • Challenging
  • Mileage: 12.0 mi
  • Elevation Gain: 7,200 ft
  • High Point Elevation: 14,129 ft
  • Pace: 750ft/hr

Olympia or Portland TBD.

This will be a low-key climb of Mt. Shasta with priority to climbers from the canceled May and June 2019 climbs.  Preference would be to take people who have hiked or climbed above 10,000ft. 

Please request permission after Feb. 17 and please don't expect responses to questions before Feb. 18. Ideally, we'd like to have our team and alternates set by early March.

Friday, May 22 - We will leave early from Olympia or Portland with meal stops on the way, arrive around 2pm, get permits and head to Bunny Flats TH at 6950ft. From there, we'll hike 2mi and 1150ft to Horse Camp at 8100ft and camp. Hopefully, the compost toilet will be open and mountain spring will be running. (If not, we may reassess our plan in advance to avoid 3 days of blue bagging and melting snow.)

Saturday, May 23. We'll get a leisurely start, make the 2300-ft hike to Helen Lake at 10,400 ft and set up our snow camp. We'll melt water, eat, assess the route, organize gear and get to bed early. (Though the sunset is often so spectacular, you'll be torn between sleeping and watching it...)

Sunday, May 24 - Alpine start. Up 1:30am, out by 3. This route is incredibly steep and is sometimes icy. We'll hike to climber's right of a rock pile called "The Heart." Avalanche Gulch gains 2400 ft in .5mi to 12,800 ft. This could take 4 hours to the Red Banks. Above that are Short Hill and Misery Hill, a 1,000ft slog known for its howling winds. This can take up to 2hrs if the wind is against us. We bust out onto the summit ridge at 13,800, cross a big field, and switchback up the summit cone to a final catwalk and the true summit. Plan is to summit before 11am. (I have summited in 6.25hrs, and in 8hrs, depending on conditions.) After signing the register, we head down and hopefully the glissade route is ready for action. The 2500 ft back to camp are often glissadable, and what took 5 hours to climb takes 10 min to descend. We'll break camp and glissade about 500 ft below Helen Lake, then walk out and camp at the TH.

Monday, May 25 (Memorial Day) – Breakfast and drive home. Prepare for holiday traffic. 

This is one of my favorite peaks. I've summited 5 times and been turned back by weather once. Three summits were on this route. There is one bergschrund above the Red Banks, but I've solo’d twice, and even with a team we never had to rope up or use glacier equipment. Depending on conditions, we may bring technical gear. (Start training with heavy packs now!). 

I'm a slower climber; we’ll try for a mixed group, but it’s important to stay together on this route.

Also, Memorial Day can be a crap shoot on Shasta. Make your own Plan B!!! We may be able to find something in Central Oregon like a South and Middle Sister combo, but if Shasta looks bad, the whole area may not be great.

Leader permission required. 

Route/Place

Mount Shasta/Avalanche Gulch


Roster
Required Equipment

Required Equipment

  • The Ten Essentials
  • Snow camping gear
  • Group winter camping gear (TBD)
  • Mountain boots that can accept crampons (not hiking boots)
  • Crampons
  • An ice axe (not technical ice tools)
  • A back pack (60 to 80 liters)
  • Webbing and accessory cords (TBD)
  • 4 non-locking carabiners (TBD)
  • 2 locking carabiners (TBD)
  • Large pear-shaped carabiner (TBD)
  • Climbing harness (TBD)
  • Helmet
  • Rescue pulley (TBD)
  • Fleece or puffy jacket
  • Rain jacket and full-zip rain pants
  • Warm gloves or mittens
  • $25 for permits, up to $100 for gas, $50+ for meal stops.
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