The Mt. Shasta Book

This book is marketed as a general recreation guide to the Mount Shasta area including sections on mountain biking and water sports, however most of the information is on Hiking Climbing and Skiing on the mountain itself. All of the mountain's climbing routes are documented here as well as many variations. While somewhat brief the climbing route descriptions are far superior to those found in other guidebooks (Climbing the Cascade Volcanoes, or Climbing the California Fourteeners). Numerous Annotated photos do a good job supplementing these descriptions.

The most recent edition uses the french system for alpine grades. Although this system may be unfamiliar to most using this book, this system seems more appropriate for the type of climbing Shasta offers than most other ratings.

The book also includes a copy of the wilderness press Mount Shasta Wilderness map, with all trails, climbing routes and variations, and approach roads shown in detail. I have found this map quite useful for navigating the maze of logging roads located on the mountains lower slopes.

In my opinion this is the best print resource available for Mount Shasta. A worthwhile purchase for those who keep coming back to this majestic peak.

The book is full of artistically written narratives but "the glacial geography is an ever-changing kaleidoscope" isn't a useful description for me when I'm researching a climbing route. There is also very little detail provided on trailheads, camp sites, what permits are required to climb, etc. The book contains information on hiking, mountain biking and a general description of the main climbing routes but lacks detail to be of much use. It does come with a nice map though.