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hello, i'm completely new to mountaineering and backpacking. I plan on doing Shasta on june 6, and have been getting a layering system together. I plan on renting a lot of the gear, but here is what my layering system looks like. any and all advice would be much appreciated.

Top layers:
Patagonia cap 3
Hangfire jacket
Patagonia down sweater
Marmot oracle jacket
gloves (suggestions?)

Bottom layers:
Patagonia cap 3
R1 pants
Patagonia guide pants
hard shell pants (need)

Thanks in advance!

Hi Spencer,

You might want to just list the type of clothing you're going to wear. Others may not be familiar with the items you have listed. On Shasta I probably wore some medium weight guide type pants under a shell and some wool base layers under a shell on top. Then bring a light to medium weight down layer for when you are stopped or on top. Depends on the weather and how hot/cold you tend to be compared to others. You will see the whole range of clothing on the mountain...from jeans to high end stuff.

Shasta is not a big deal, once you get past the banks, there's not much left. It's a good place to start though. Your experience is relative to you and your age/fitness/coordination etc.

Your layering system may be warmer than you need. Cap 3 is warm and if it's a warm day you may be too warm on top even stripped down to your cap 3 top, especially at lower altitude. The Hangfire softshell looks like it is fleece lined; that plus the cap3 should be quite warm and in fact may be too warm if what you want is just a windbreaker over your underwear. An unlined softshell + a light midlayer (fleece, Marmot Windshirt,...) is a more versatile combination. Are you doing it in a day or camping somewhere on the way up? If so the down sweater (or something even warmer) is a good idea for wearing at night in camp.

The cap3 bottom + guide pants should be more than sufficient warmth for your lower body - I would leave the R1 pants at home. The hard shell pants also are arguably unecessary with the combination of softshell paints and cap3 underwear. If you are moving you'll probably stay as warm and dry with the hardshell off as on, since you'll sweat in the hardshell. A hardshell jacket is a good idea just in case but keep it light.

I don't know how hot you run when you're moving, but I would need a lightweight base layer instead of the cap 3, or I would melt.

Also not sure you need both R1 and Cap 3 on your bottom half.

If you're carrying both shells and hard shells, get the lightest possible hard shells, as they will in all likelihood just sit in the bottom of your pack. Marmot Precip pants are the lightest pants I know of. The Oracle jacket is kind of heavy. If you've got the money, I'd get something lighter, like the Patagonia Alpine Houdini, the O.R. Helium, Montane Minimus Smock, etc.

My favorite climbing gloves are the Eddie Bauer First Ascent Guide Glove.

Hi, thanks for the replies! I may have went a bit overboard, as I mainly used Shasta/rainier guide equipment lists to decide what to buy. I plan on doing a 3 day trip, camping at horse camp on day 1, Helen lake on day 2, and day 3 being my summit bid. I feel that I tend to warm up a lot when im moving, so Ive decided to drop the r1 pants, and go with cap 1 or 2 instead of 3 for top and bottom. I plan on using the fleece as my midlayer if needed, and the down jacket mainly for camp and possibly summit day.

im thinking of just using softshell pants, seeing as how its june and the weather should be somewhat mild. I will also switch the oracle for a lighter hardshell.

My last time up shasta, I wore thin polypro and hard shell pants on the lower, thin polypro with an uninsulated softshell on top, windstopper fleece gloves and a baseball cap. I took off the soft shell when the sun came up. This was on June 8.

That said, what you carry and what you wear depends on how cold you get and how much you are willing to suffer if the weather turns. The above is what I regularly wear (except I usually take a windblocker fleece hat and Mountain Hardware waterproof, insulated gloves) for 14ers in the winter. If I get cold, I move faster which might not be an option unless you are traveling solo (which I almost always do).

hi, thanks for all the replies, helped a lot actually.

it seems my previous post didn't actually go through, so ill re write it best I can.

I got almost all my gear while referring to recommended gear lists for Shasta and rainier, and it seems I went overboard on some things. I forget how warm it gets in june even on a 14'er.

I think I will drop the R1 pants and probably the fleece, as well as replace my cap 3 top and bottoms with cap 1 or 2. I plan on doing a 3 day climb, day 1 at 50/50 or horse camp after taking a basic mountaineering course, day 2 at Helen lake, and day 3 being my summit day. the down sweater is basically for camp and summit day. ive been looking at the Houdini jacket already and think i will buy one to replace my oracle.

one other question. on summit day, do people typically leave their tent and unneeded gear at Helen lake, or is there a good chance it will get stolen?

thanks again for the replies folks!

Oops, sorry for the double post..

Yes, most people who overnight at Lake Helen leave their tent and other gear not required for the summit there, and pick it up on the way down. I've personally seen gear go missing from Lake Helen when a climber failed to properly anchor his tent or build an appropriate windshield around it, and had the tent, and everything inside, blow off the site and away down the mountain. Otherwise, it's far enough from the trailhead that most people who make it up there are also climbers and understand the climber ethic of not messing with someone else's gear. Of course, it's a good idea not to leave things like cash or personal electronics that might tempt someone.