I am looking to climb Shasta the end of March beginning of April and was looking at the Casaval route. We are going to allow for more then one day but i am trying to get some tips on route conditions during this time, or any suggestions to a backup route if this would not be the most appropriate one for this time of the season. I/We have had successful summits of Rainier,Hood and Marcy

Good choice for a winter climb. Casaval Ridge has lots of snow on it. Weather will be the major factor in March and April. It is known more as a technical route and a lot of climbers do rope up. A great place to set up camp is at the top of Giddy Giddy Gulch or at the First Window. I'm sure others will chime in with their experiences and tips climbing Casaval Ridge. Oh yeah, if your wondering how this ridge got its name a man name Matthew McCallister, a prominent figure from San Francisco who had a major role in getting the Sierra Club built back in the 1920s, had a son who got married to a women from Spain. Casa in spanish means house and val means valley. His son married and they lived in a house down in a valley-Casaval

I'm not an expert as I have only done Casaval Ridge once, but I think it would be a good choice for the time frame you have identified.

We camped at an excellent location at about 11k feet. This allowed a descent down the west face directly to camp - no climbing back up! This also allowed us to descend easily off the ridge down to Helen Lake and out the normal route.

As for being technical, my partner had only used an ice axe and crampon once before in the mountains. We did not rope up but saw some parties who did. There is tremendous route latitude so you will hear different versions of how steep/difficult the route is. We found short sections of hard, 45 degree snow and some exposed 4th class rock. We intentially stayed as true to the ridge crest as was feasible.

Good luck, I really enjoyed the route.

EB

Here is a link to my TR for additional info: http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/5 ... ridge.html

The catwalk is thwe only semi-technical area IMHO. I am going to be that route in April as well.

Check this site in combo with the standard weather check prior to going up: http://www.shastaavalanche.org/advisori ... -advisory/

I'd recommend camping at Horse Camp (last place with trees) or at the first window.

Bring snowshoes (or skis) for the descent if the snow is soft, otherwise it'll be posthole city.

Be safe & have fun!

Last year, we went up Avalanche Gulch during the first few days of April (I think the 2nd and 3rd). Its a crap shoot if you are going to get the right conditions. We post holed (in showshoes!) to Helen Lake twice and turned around both days because the snow looked unstable. When we came back the second day an avalanche had come down right where we were going to camp! Couple guys turned around (after following our freshly made trail) the next day as conditions continued to be a bit knarly even higher up.

Guys that were there a week before and a week after summited and had no problems. We just got unlucky with the weather. Im not sure how many similarities there are with the Gulch and the Casavaal (sic) but I think you should be fine. Just be flexible with your dates to allow for bad weather.

By the way, there was 10 feet of snow at the parking lot when we were there so there should be a ton of snow! Have fun!

Casaval is a lot different than Avy Gulch in April !

Sorry to resurrect this but it seemed appropriate.

With all the snow do you think that Avalanche Gulch will still be in climbable shape in August or will it be a talus climb? If it melts out, will crampons and snowshoes still be necessary or could I save weight there?

The reason I ask is I'm going to be working in Utah from March until November with a week off in August. I might have a break in May but I'm not sure.

Sorry to resurrect this but it seemed appropriate.

With all the snow do you think that Avalanche Gulch will still be in climbable shape in August or will it be a talus climb? If it melts out, will crampons and snowshoes still be necessary or could I save weight there?

The reason I ask is I'm going to be working in Utah from March until November with a week off in August. I might have a break in May but I'm not sure.

Not even with low or high snow years can you tell exactly how it'll be in any time in summer. The mountain creates its own weather. You can get a dump of snow any time of the year. Most often though Avy Gulch will have some ice. I tried it one August way back when, and had to turn back due to lack of gear. Then in 2008, the mountain was almost completely bare on that side. Myself, I'm hoping for a 5X, a trail hike to the top sans gear, now that they have that in.

You can check the live cam as often as you wish to keep track of snow conditions. Search "Shasta live cam," I think it used to be snowcrest.com or what.