Shasta Conditions?

Regional discussion and conditions reports for the Golden State. Please post partners requests and trip plans in the California Climbing Partners forum.
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pjc30943

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by pjc30943 » Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:11 am

Anyone have shots of upper sargeant's or green butte from the last week or so? I'm looking to head up there this coming weekend. Thanks!

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Deb

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by Deb » Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:36 am

pjc30943 wrote:Anyone have shots of upper sargeant's or green butte from the last week or so? I'm looking to head up there this coming weekend. Thanks!

I only played on the West Face and the lower end of Casaval (Giddy Giddy) on Sat, 18 June. Snow conditions on West Face were extraordinary! Traversing Casaval onto Giddy Giddy it got rather mushy by 1PM, then it was just mashed potatoes to the parking lot. High winds and lowering cloud deck keep us from going over 13K'; winds were supposed to be ridiculous on Sun. ? Looks pretty warm at 12K' tonite; warming trend? ugh
Have fun!

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Vitaliy M.

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by Vitaliy M. » Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:00 am

rhyang wrote:Any shots of the upper Whitney glacier / upper Cascade Gulch this year ?

Should be visible from the summit plateau .. here's what I'm talking about -- last April -
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April 2009
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April 2008
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Thanks for any beta .. (hi Deb :) )


I have a couple from this year..one from late April 2011
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and one from mid may 2011
Image

one from mid May has a better angle because it was taken from sub summit.

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Michael Graupe

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by Michael Graupe » Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:40 pm

Deb wrote: winds were supposed to be ridiculous on Sun. ?


Winds were ridiculous on Sunday! We made it to the Red Banks early morning before turning around. Had to go into self-arrest position several times to wait out some of the wind gusts. A woman fell and tumbled by us almost 2000ft down the hard slope and got hurt pretty badly. It took hours to extract her since the helicopter couldn't get to Lake Helen because of the wind. Hope she will be all right soon.

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clmbr

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by clmbr » Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:13 am

The weather (sky) on Sunday looked very good; above Hidden Valley it was crystal clear, deceivingly so. The night was very noisy and it took a while before I decided to climb. That morning Casaval Ridge looked beautiful but due to the annoying winds I chose West Face Gully. Soon I realized I was the only one on the slope (and most likely on the side of the mountain above 10-11K).

Well, how strong does the wind has to be to stop you from climbing? If I cannot hold my balance I would say the wind is strong enough and I would usually discontinue climbing (depending on the circumstances, of course). But it was not that bad yet, not below 10K, 11K or even 12k. So I kept on climbing.

Regardless how you want to traverse this route in such conditions you are constantly exposed to icy particles and some small rock falls, especially at the higher elevations where the wind is stronger, the distance from ridges shortens, and the route narrows.

It got to the point where I had to lay down on the icy slope with my ice axe stuck deeply into it waiting for the wind to weaken. And any time I tried to remove my ice ax and place it above to keep going, the wind hit me again and again pushing me off balance. I'm not sure for how long I was struggling like this but finally realized that getting to the top of the Face may put me in an even worse situation and so I descended.

On my return Hidden Valley was completely deserted. I called home for any info about the next day's conditions but they could not find any reliable data for high elevation. So I packed my tent and went down. Horse Camp was like a paradise, completely quiet, running water and open toilette. A woman coming down Avalanche Gulch told me the wind (around 100mph) stopped her by Misery Hill.

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Deb

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Michael Graupe

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by Michael Graupe » Tue Jun 21, 2011 1:35 am

Here is a photo of the conditions just below the Red Banks early Sunday morning. We made it only a few hundred feet further before it became unsafe to continue. Can't even imagine how the woman even made it to Misery Hill.

Image

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Deb

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by Deb » Wed Jun 22, 2011 6:03 am

Michael Graupe wrote:Here is a photo of the conditions just below the Red Banks early Sunday morning. We made it only a few hundred feet further before it became unsafe to continue. Can't even imagine how the woman even made it to Misery Hill.

Image


Holy shit! This is stupidity for sure! I hope she didn't get hurt, or hurt anyone else due to having to rescue her. :shock:
I hated abandoning our summit bid at 13,100' on West Face Saturday afternoon, but I had a young inexperienced partner on skis that I felt responsible for keeping safe. Looking back from Casaval Ridge (after a spectacular ski down) and seeing the lenticular on the summit gave me comfort that I made the right decision for us.....mainly him. The perfect snow was worth the loss of the summit. Kudos to those who have the sense to turn around!

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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by mtndonkey » Wed Jun 22, 2011 5:07 pm

We are heading up Casaval later this week and looking for some advice on camp and descent options. We are thinking we would make camp at the 11k spot and wondering if we should carry our overnight gear to the summit and just head straight down AG or back down to camp and then down AG. We will be traveling light so carrying all of our gear to the summit isn't really a big deal. What is the ideal option given our proposed campsite for the quickest and easiest descent back to the TH?

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Vitaliy M.

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by Vitaliy M. » Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:18 pm

If I was you I would either pack over as you wish. Or camp before all the windows and stuff around 10.3K somewhere(with a beautiful view of the route) and glissade down WF to pick up your camp (you will have to ascent maybe 200ft to join the ridge for that). I love that camp spot, view of Casaval/Shastina during sunsets is amazing.

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clmbr

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by clmbr » Thu Jun 23, 2011 7:50 pm

You can camp whenever you find the spot, but the last spot that you can really comfortable and safely protect your tent from the high winds is just before you enter the "rocky" part of the ridge at about 10,000.

If you carry backpacks to the top, the easiest way to descent (especially in whiteout conditions) is through 1) Avalanche Gulch. Otherwise, you can retrace your footsteps through 2) Casaval Ridge (the hardest or longest approach), or you can take 3) West Face Gully to 3a) Hidden Valley or 3b) at certain elevation get back on the lower part of CR, or 3c) cross it and finish through AG. There are more subtle variations but it's up to you (and the weather conditions) which approach would be most suitable.

You also have an option to camp on the top (plateau), just for the sake of experience (but watch for winds).

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mtndonkey

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by mtndonkey » Sun Jun 26, 2011 4:18 pm

Thanks for the info. We camped at the flat spot at 11k and just built snow walls and dug in to protect from the winds which were very consistent but not too bad. It ended up being a great site and we just carried our overnight gear over the top and descended AG. If you are able to travel light, this is definitely the best way to go.

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clmbr

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by clmbr » Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:48 pm

Very nice. Any pictures from the trip?

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Vitaliy M.

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by Vitaliy M. » Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:52 am

mtndonkey wrote:Thanks for the info. We camped at the flat spot at 11k and just built snow walls and dug in to protect from the winds which were very consistent but not too bad. It ended up being a great site and we just carried our overnight gear over the top and descended AG. If you are able to travel light, this is definitely the best way to go.


best way would be to day-hike it.

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granjero

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by granjero » Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:52 am

even better...bring skis on your dayhike! why not double the fun? :)

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Holk

 
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Re: Shasta Conditions?

by Holk » Mon Jun 27, 2011 9:26 am

I say spend several days on a mountain. Everyone has their reasons to be there, though.

However, I did only spend a day, that is to say 24hrs, but made due with what I could in a 48hr timeline from Portland and back again.

And 11,000 seemed ideal, although I was too late to catch it. Would love to get back that way again soon!
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