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Well we've decided to do Casaval Ridge instead of Middle Pal at the end of the month. How many of you guys rope up for this route? Any pro? Thanks.

IMO, no gear needed in good conditions if you're comfy on steep (~40-45 degree) snow. I went up one year when it was reported to be super icy, carried a 30M rope and a couple o' screws but topped out without seeing any hard ice. I'd get updated info a few days before you go up and make the call based on that, in my experience the rangers out there usually have good info. Awesome route. Dang it, I wanted to see pics from M. Pal in winter conditions

benjamingray wrote:IMO, no gear needed in good conditions if you're comfy on steep (~40-45 degree) snow. I went up one year when it was reported to be super icy, carried a 30M rope and a couple o' screws but topped out without seeing any hard ice. I'd get updated info a few days before you go up and make the call based on that, in my experience the rangers out there usually have good info. Awesome route. Dang it, I wanted to see pics from M. Pal in winter conditions

I would put the angle at 30-35 max.

kovarpa wrote:

benjamingray wrote:IMO, no gear needed in good conditions if you're comfy on steep (~40-45 degree) snow. I went up one year when it was reported to be super icy, carried a 30M rope and a couple o' screws but topped out without seeing any hard ice. I'd get updated info a few days before you go up and make the call based on that, in my experience the rangers out there usually have good info. Awesome route. Dang it, I wanted to see pics from M. Pal in winter conditions

I would put the angle at 30-35 max.

Agreed other than the hourglass, heard some people call it 50 degrees and I've seen people swing tools there, though it was unnecesary.

From the Casaval Route page here on SP:

There are 2 obvious, distinct sections where you will be forced to go directly up steep, exposed terrain- probably the technical crux(es) of the route. Each section is a few hundred ft. high, and cresting each will bring one to a welcome flattish section. The upper slope has 2 or 3 variations that go between/around different rock bands. Both sections are between 45 & 55 degrees (a guess here- will confirm the next time I am there).

It's amazing how many 45-50 degree climbs turn out to be 30-35 degrees when you measure them with a slope gague.

I did Casaval Ridge over Memorial day. I think there is a fair amount of route latitude. We found one or two short sections of 40+ degree snow, no question. We used no rope and a single ice axe each.

One thing we did which worked really well was to camp at ~11,000 ft on the ridge. This is an excellent camp site that allows one to descend the West Face back to camp, and then drop directly down to Helen Lake to hike out via Avalanche Gulch.

Here is my trip report: http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/5 ... Ridge.html

connollyck wrote:Well we've decided to do Casaval Ridge instead of Middle Pal at the end of the month. How many of you guys rope up for this route? Any pro? Thanks.

Check the conditions before you go. I doubt it will be in at the end of November (unless Shasta gets a couple of more winter storms before then).

I agree it is around 30 degrees most of the time. But if you really try you can find even 50 deg snow there

Well, you can go as far left as you want, and find nothing steeper than 30 degrees or so. You can even stick to the Ridge, and climb lots of quite steep snow and ice, and low 5th class rock. It's just silly to say there's nothing steeper than x, when the terrain allows for climbing anywhere you want. Zig zag in and out of the towers and windows for some steeps.

As far as in condition, it goes anytime. I've climbed Cassaval in mid summer. The more snow the better though.

brandon wrote:Well, you can go as far left as you want, and find nothing steeper than 30 degrees or so. You can even stick to the Ridge, and climb lots of quite steep snow and ice, and low 5th class rock.

I think you hit the nail on the head. We made a point of sticking to the ridge crest as much as possible and ran into 40 + degree snow and easy rock.