Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: June, 2002
GREAT mountain - not too tough. Careful while glissading down. Just a beautiful route and we had great weather. Marc Pagani, Christina, Rice, Mark Terry, Steve Chamberlin
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: August 2003
A great day to be on Mt. Shasta! It was warm enough to have the rocks falling, but other than that, everything including the weather was perfect. Mt. Shasta has gorgeous views and we took plenty of pictures. The Red Banks are nice too, but it confused me a little, I thought I was close to the summit ;-) I hope to be back some day to try a different route.
Route Climbed: Green Butte Date Climbed: April, 2004
Skied about 3000 feet of vertical. Didn't have time to do the whole thing this time. I don't recommend this route, the snow, which was crusty, was all cut up by snomobiles and was fairly hellish.
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: August 03, 2004
We did the summit in two days. First day we started about 9:30 in prefectly clear skies and reached camp at Helen Lake by 1. Started hailing and snowing on us right after we made camp and ate. Started out next morning about 4 am under perfect skies again. Went right of the heart and up a gully in Red Banks. Reached the summit by 10 after a half hour stop to melt some snow. Got back down in a hurry, picked up camp and we were off the mountain by 3:30
Route Climbed: Clear Creek Date Climbed: 31 July 2004
Nice trail to source of clear creek (~8400') where there was still flowing water available. Long scree slope, but traveling as light as I was, I didn't slide back much at all. I did have to use my hands parts of the way. Only a few small snow fields early on- no need at all for ice axe/crampons. There were some big loose rocks-- chance of shin injury or worse. A very different experience from glacial routes, but under-rated for those like me wanting to get to the top with minimal hazard late in the season. Good route for speed attempts- I managed 3 1/2 hr assent from my car, but if acclimatized and even lighter pack an elite climber should be able to manage sub 3 hr. Descent can be done in 1 1/2 hrs by running much of the way.
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: 23rd July , 2004
Wow! What a wonderful climb. Had great weather, great partners, and much success. Left Helen at 5 am and were perched on the summit at 9:30 am. Snow conditions were perfect! No wind on the summit and temps were quite warm.
Currently, the best chute to use up through the Red Banks is the climber's far left. It's completely snow-covered all the way through. A second group decided to try the climber's far right and got half way through, ran out of snow, and suffered a nerve-racking scramble over the soft rock, which turned 2/3rds of them back.
Quite surprised at the ease of the climb as compared to Tyndall and even the scree approach on Langley. Thanks to Team X-Ray (Marija, Stacie, Mike, and Pavel) for joining us and all the good times and to my climbing partners on Team Infrared (Alan, Matthais, and Brian). You all impressed me and made this one-year wait for this climb well worth it!
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 23, 2004
Great climb, one of Marija's most inspired ideas!. Made the summit at 11:30 after a 5:15 am start from Helen Lake with Mike, Marija and Pavel. Our first time, and we all made it!!! Narrow steep snow held through Red Banks almost to the resting area below Misery Hill, and we made it through before the sun began softening the snow. The summit was clear and not windy, much less cold than expected. Glissading back down after was the best! We glissaded all the way past 50/50 hill, picking up our heavy packs again at Helen Lake. Not crowded, thanks to the excellent planning for midweek by Brian on our co-team of Brian, Brian, Alan, and Matthias, who made the summit by 10 am.
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 18, 2004
Reached the summit by 8:30 AM after leaving Helen Lake in the wee hours. First to summit that day, as far as we can tell. Weather was deteriorating fast and I'm glad we left for the summit when we did. Snowpack was pretty thin - ice axe and crampons only necessary on the snowfield between Helen Lake and the Red Banks.
Route Climbed: Hotlum Glacier Date Climbed: July 11, 2004
Great route - the best I have done on Shasta so far - very varied (glacier, crevasses, rock (I hate the scree), snow) and you can't beat the fact that you top out exactly on the top and all the AG'ers are left to figure out where you came from. Great company - Vendula, Kris and Rigo.
Route Climbed: Hotlum Glacier Date Climbed: July 11, 2004
Climbed with Pavel, Vendula and Rigo. Fun and challenging climb. We negotiated some pretty big crevasses. It was icy on the upper elevations, so we got on the Wintun-Hotlum ridge rather than the gully to the left of the headwall. We came down on the other side, close to Hotlum-Bolum ridge, crossed some crevasses on the way down and got to the camp about 12 hrs. after we'd left it. We had to break the camp, hike out and drive home the same day, which was quite painful.
Route Climbed: Avy Gulch Date Climbed: July 3, 2004
See Bob's (rfbolton) summit log report below as it does the job well. We were in the last group to summit on Saturday as the climbing ranger (Matt) felt that the chance of lightning was increasing and turned many unfortunate climbers around who would have otherwise summitted.
Saw one guy with two dogs very close to the summit who had come up the Casaval ridge but when he learned that a climbing ranger was on the summit, he sadly turned back stating he wasn't aware that dogs were not permitted. They were good looking dogs too but ignorance of the law........
Route Climbed: Avy Gulch Date Climbed: July 3, 2004
Dean Molen and I hiked in to 50-50 camp and had the place to ourselves while a steady stream of folks headed on up to Helen Lake. For the life of me I can't understand why hauling the heavy pack higher is somehow more desirable. What's wrong with the "least total (reasonable) effort" theory of approaching summits? Especially when less effort means a much more desirable camp experience! Anyway, on Saturday morning we used a leisurely pace, starting at 3:30 and summitting at 11:00. Clouds formed while we were approaching and on the summit, provided cool protection from the sun for the descent. We climbed Mt. Eddy on Sunday and Lassen Peak on Monday before heading home, for an enjoyable four days in Northern California.
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 4, 2004
Shelby and I left Corvallis early Saturday morning and were in the city of Mt. Shasta by 11:00. Grabbed a few things at the Fifth Season and some grub from the Mtn. Café and headed up to Bunny Flat. We reached Lake Helen by 6:30 PM and were still able to find a nice spot. Crowded but not as bad as I thought it would be. Woke up the next morning at 3:00. Unfortunately, I mild case of altitude sickness, and an poor decision the prior night to dine on reconstituted spicy peanut tai forced Shelby to stay at camp. Shelby wanted me to summit......and so did I, so I headed off at 5:20AM. Summited by 9:15 and back to camp by 11:00 happy to join Shelby again for a quick rest. Climbed up the first chute to the right of the Heart. Once through the Red Banks, I felt the hardest (most tiring) part of the climb was over. Misery Hill didn't live up to its name thankfully. Enjoyed some nice glissades almost all the way back to the Sierra Club hut. Beautiful weather, mountain, and climbing partner, wish you had been there with me. Broke camp by 12:30 and were back in Corvallis in time to get some ice cream and watch the fireworks.
marcpagani.com - Nov 4, 2004 4:16 pm
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: June, 2002GREAT mountain - not too tough. Careful while glissading down. Just a beautiful route and we had great weather. Marc Pagani, Christina, Rice, Mark Terry, Steve Chamberlin
usarock69 - Nov 3, 2004 7:05 pm
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: August 2003A great day to be on Mt. Shasta! It was warm enough to have the rocks falling, but other than that, everything including the weather was perfect. Mt. Shasta has gorgeous views and we took plenty of pictures. The Red Banks are nice too, but it confused me a little, I thought I was close to the summit ;-) I hope to be back some day to try a different route.
ripper333 - Oct 24, 2004 5:12 pm
Route Climbed: avalanche gulch Date Climbed: sept 2002/ july 2004seem to have a weather omen on this peak. both
attempts....got turned around at red banks. made the
best of it and had a good time despite the weather.
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ChuckO - Oct 13, 2004 8:16 pm
Route Climbed: Hotlum Glacier Date Climbed: July 2004Great climb. Guided trip with ShastaMountainGuides - earned good reviews. Wonderful glacial features up there.
stoneman5 - Sep 13, 2004 7:40 pm
Route Climbed: Green Butte Date Climbed: April, 2004Skied about 3000 feet of vertical. Didn't have time to do the whole thing this time. I don't recommend this route, the snow, which was crusty, was all cut up by snomobiles and was fairly hellish.
Chris Cobb - Aug 25, 2004 12:42 am
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: August 03, 2004We did the summit in two days. First day we started about 9:30 in prefectly clear skies and reached camp at Helen Lake by 1. Started hailing and snowing on us right after we made camp and ate. Started out next morning about 4 am under perfect skies again. Went right of the heart and up a gully in Red Banks. Reached the summit by 10 after a half hour stop to melt some snow. Got back down in a hurry, picked up camp and we were off the mountain by 3:30
Gail J - Aug 15, 2004 12:56 pm
Route Climbed: West Face Date Climbed: July 6, 1998My first fourteener that needed axe and crampons. Perfect conditions.
olsenn - Aug 2, 2004 9:40 pm
Route Climbed: Clear Creek Date Climbed: 31 July 2004Nice trail to source of clear creek (~8400') where there was still flowing water available. Long scree slope, but traveling as light as I was, I didn't slide back much at all. I did have to use my hands parts of the way. Only a few small snow fields early on- no need at all for ice axe/crampons. There were some big loose rocks-- chance of shin injury or worse. A very different experience from glacial routes, but under-rated for those like me wanting to get to the top with minimal hazard late in the season. Good route for speed attempts- I managed 3 1/2 hr assent from my car, but if acclimatized and even lighter pack an elite climber should be able to manage sub 3 hr. Descent can be done in 1 1/2 hrs by running much of the way.
blmcclain - Jul 25, 2004 10:17 pm
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: 23rd July , 2004Wow! What a wonderful climb. Had great weather, great partners, and much success. Left Helen at 5 am and were perched on the summit at 9:30 am. Snow conditions were perfect! No wind on the summit and temps were quite warm.
Currently, the best chute to use up through the Red Banks is the climber's far left. It's completely snow-covered all the way through. A second group decided to try the climber's far right and got half way through, ran out of snow, and suffered a nerve-racking scramble over the soft rock, which turned 2/3rds of them back.
Quite surprised at the ease of the climb as compared to Tyndall and even the scree approach on Langley. Thanks to Team X-Ray (Marija, Stacie, Mike, and Pavel) for joining us and all the good times and to my climbing partners on Team Infrared (Alan, Matthais, and Brian). You all impressed me and made this one-year wait for this climb well worth it!
stacie - Jul 25, 2004 1:21 am
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 23, 2004Great climb, one of Marija's most inspired ideas!. Made the summit at 11:30 after a 5:15 am start from Helen Lake with Mike, Marija and Pavel. Our first time, and we all made it!!! Narrow steep snow held through Red Banks almost to the resting area below Misery Hill, and we made it through before the sun began softening the snow. The summit was clear and not windy, much less cold than expected. Glissading back down after was the best! We glissaded all the way past 50/50 hill, picking up our heavy packs again at Helen Lake. Not crowded, thanks to the excellent planning for midweek by Brian on our co-team of Brian, Brian, Alan, and Matthias, who made the summit by 10 am.
mgp5000 - Jul 19, 2004 5:26 pm
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 18, 2004Reached the summit by 8:30 AM after leaving Helen Lake in the wee hours. First to summit that day, as far as we can tell. Weather was deteriorating fast and I'm glad we left for the summit when we did. Snowpack was pretty thin - ice axe and crampons only necessary on the snowfield between Helen Lake and the Red Banks.
kovarpa - Jul 15, 2004 10:05 pm
Route Climbed: Hotlum Glacier Date Climbed: July 11, 2004Great route - the best I have done on Shasta so far - very varied (glacier, crevasses, rock (I hate the scree), snow) and you can't beat the fact that you top out exactly on the top and all the AG'ers are left to figure out where you came from. Great company - Vendula, Kris and Rigo.
mt_daydream - Jul 15, 2004 4:45 am
Route Climbed: AG Date Climbed: June 29, 2003First snow experience for me. Beautiful peak! Best part was the descent -- learnt the basics of self arrest before starting the awesome glissade down!
A great peak for the beginner to get valuable experience on snow.
Bill562 - Jul 14, 2004 1:26 pm
Route Climbed: AG variation - right of the Heart, left chimney up Date Climbed: 7/10/2004Awesome weather, good snow conditions.
Zzyzx - Jul 14, 2004 1:44 am
Route Climbed: Hotlum Glacier Date Climbed: July 11, 2004Climbed with Pavel, Vendula and Rigo. Fun and challenging climb. We negotiated some pretty big crevasses. It was icy on the upper elevations, so we got on the Wintun-Hotlum ridge rather than the gully to the left of the headwall. We came down on the other side, close to Hotlum-Bolum ridge, crossed some crevasses on the way down and got to the camp about 12 hrs. after we'd left it. We had to break the camp, hike out and drive home the same day, which was quite painful.
Fred Bagni - Jul 10, 2004 6:58 pm
Route Climbed: Avalance Gulch Date Climbed: June 2003Easy climb. Lots of beginners. Full moon start.
Dean - Jul 9, 2004 6:06 pm
Route Climbed: Avy Gulch Date Climbed: July 3, 2004See Bob's (rfbolton) summit log report below as it does the job well. We were in the last group to summit on Saturday as the climbing ranger (Matt) felt that the chance of lightning was increasing and turned many unfortunate climbers around who would have otherwise summitted.
Saw one guy with two dogs very close to the summit who had come up the Casaval ridge but when he learned that a climbing ranger was on the summit, he sadly turned back stating he wasn't aware that dogs were not permitted. They were good looking dogs too but ignorance of the law........
sierradiscgolfer - Jul 9, 2004 5:57 pm
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: August 1997My first experience with Crampons. We passed over 25 people on the ascent.
Bob Bolton - Jul 7, 2004 1:07 am
Route Climbed: Avy Gulch Date Climbed: July 3, 2004Dean Molen and I hiked in to 50-50 camp and had the place to ourselves while a steady stream of folks headed on up to Helen Lake. For the life of me I can't understand why hauling the heavy pack higher is somehow more desirable. What's wrong with the "least total (reasonable) effort" theory of approaching summits? Especially when less effort means a much more desirable camp experience! Anyway, on Saturday morning we used a leisurely pace, starting at 3:30 and summitting at 11:00. Clouds formed while we were approaching and on the summit, provided cool protection from the sun for the descent. We climbed Mt. Eddy on Sunday and Lassen Peak on Monday before heading home, for an enjoyable four days in Northern California.
Cornvallis - Jul 6, 2004 2:26 am
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 4, 2004Shelby and I left Corvallis early Saturday morning and were in the city of Mt. Shasta by 11:00. Grabbed a few things at the Fifth Season and some grub from the Mtn. Café and headed up to Bunny Flat. We reached Lake Helen by 6:30 PM and were still able to find a nice spot. Crowded but not as bad as I thought it would be. Woke up the next morning at 3:00. Unfortunately, I mild case of altitude sickness, and an poor decision the prior night to dine on reconstituted spicy peanut tai forced Shelby to stay at camp. Shelby wanted me to summit......and so did I, so I headed off at 5:20AM. Summited by 9:15 and back to camp by 11:00 happy to join Shelby again for a quick rest. Climbed up the first chute to the right of the Heart. Once through the Red Banks, I felt the hardest (most tiring) part of the climb was over. Misery Hill didn't live up to its name thankfully. Enjoyed some nice glissades almost all the way back to the Sierra Club hut. Beautiful weather, mountain, and climbing partner, wish you had been there with me. Broke camp by 12:30 and were back in Corvallis in time to get some ice cream and watch the fireworks.