dspencer - Apr 21, 2019 8:30 am Date Climbed: May 21, 2017
AG Guided
2 night trip with Shasha Mtn guides up AG with dad. Dad made it to the top of Red Banks. Summited. Lots of rock fall on the way back down in the PM. Great conditions overall.
led a group of service members from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA (we were all studying Arabic) up the West face. Altitude sickness hit a few members of the group and we turned back at the base of misery hill.
travel_murse - Mar 24, 2019 10:13 am Date Climbed: Nov 17, 2018
Shasty!
Bulletproof ice. Axes were only superficially scratching the ice
chrisgrames - Feb 13, 2019 9:17 am Date Climbed: Jul 1, 2017
First Mountaineering Climb - Shasta 2017
First mountaineering climb with my two brothers. Great introduction to the sport.
pezzotto - Oct 18, 2018 5:52 pm Date Climbed: Apr 29, 2018
First Shasta summit
Went up the Avalanche Gulch.Three days but could have done in two. Weather was perfect if not too cold in the morning. The descent post-summit was a long slosh in the melting snow.
My fist climb with crampon and in rope team situation. This climb changed me from a hiker to aspiring amateur mountaineer.
Yulia Zi - Jul 22, 2018 7:00 pm Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2018
July Summit via Hotlum-Bolum Ridge
This was the least snow I've seen on this mountain so far. The weather perfect. Loose rock + scree in crampons was the most challenging part, both on the way up and even more so on the way down. A great endurance climb.
Do not take a low clearance vehicle for the last 8+miles offroad. Our Prius could not make it. We parked next to the train tracks.
sierramtngoat - Jul 6, 2018 11:46 am Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2018
Avalanche Gulch
Climbed with long time friend and partner Dave. Hit continuous snow at 50/50. Snow pack in the chute to the right of the "dog bone" in the Red Banks was firm, with no moats by on either side. Summit day was windy and very cold; climbed in my down jacket, which rarely happens. Met several rope teams of all young ladies from Alabama; very impressive and inspiring.
Route Climbed: Hotlum Bolam Ridge Date Climbed: July 31, 2016 Success!
Solo Dayhike Traverse from North to South:
It had been a while since I went up Hotlum-Bolam Ridge, so what better way to do it than as a dayhike, traversing all of Shasta? This had been a dream of mine for a very long time. The route is in a different kind of shape than I had remembered, a lot looser on the approach, give yourself some extra time for that. The H-B Ridge is currently exposed all the way to the ramp but no crevasses that I could see; there were open ones 10 years ago when the ridge was not exposed below the ramp, so stay close to the ridge. A couple told me that they had failed to stay on the ridge proper, above the rabbit ears; there is a class 3 scramble if you climb high between the rabbit ears and the ridge. After gaining the rige, stay on the ridge until the headwall where you climb the couloir climbers right; you would then top out on the north summit. Here is my Strava for the climb. It shows the shortcut I use for the first 1000 ft. (saves 30-45 min). https://www.strava.com/activities/660957525
Route Climbed: Hotlum-Bolam Ridge Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2006 Success!
Climbed with balajisv, dnriley, Dan, and Alex. The conditions were great with clear skies and low wind, but it was a bit on the warm side which made the descent a bit sloppy. The center of the "ramp" was 2" of snow on top of ice, so if you are thinking of glissading the ramp, be careful. Though climbing rope slowed our ascent, it seemed practical in hindsight as one of my partners punched though a snow bridge up to his shoulders, below and right of the bergschrund.
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: August 14, 2005 Success!
Solo dayhike, nine hours from Bunny Flat. The runnels were pretty deep above Helen Lake which made the climb awkward, but not difficult. There was still snow in the chutes, but none on misery hill.
Route Climbed: Cascade Gulch Date Climbed: June 15, 2003 Success!
Pretty, aesthetic route. Climbed with my buddy Brad under a full moon; we were all alone on the route. Windy as all hell at the Shastina saddle. Crossing the Whitney Glacier was not difficult.
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: June 28, 2002 Success!
Birthday climb with my Cousin Morgan. We made good time up to the plateau, took a breather, then bagged the summit. Enjoyed a birthday shot of baily's after we got back to Helen Lake.
Route Climbed: Hotlum/Wintun Ridge Date Climbed: July 29, 2001 Success!
Climbed with Maria; we ascended on the right side of the ridge, then crossed over to the Wintun Glacier. The snow was soft, the sun was hot, but the summit was freezing... welcome to Mt. Shasta.
Route Climbed: Helen Lake/Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 9, 2000 Success!
Repeated this route with my buddy Brian as he got sick the first time around and only attended the snow school. It was a lot warmer, but more cloudy... a difficult trade off.
Route Climbed: Helen Lake/Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 9, 2000 Success!
Climbed with SWS and my buddy Brian and a collegue. I was a bit out of shape at the time so the climbing was difficult. Some crazy looking guy with frozen snot stuck to his moustache passed us on his way down and the guide said, "you know, we don't have to end up looking like that guy, are you sure you want to continue?" HELL YES!!!
Jeff Hester - Jun 29, 2018 7:04 am Date Climbed: Jun 23, 2018
1st Time Ascent
Hiked Mount Shasta as an overnight trip, camping at Lake Helen on Friday. Started climbing Avalanche Gulch at 3:20am. Reached the summit about 7 hours later. Mostly snow from 50/50 camp and above, but it's melting fast and there were patches of rock/scree to cross on Misery Hill.
Winds were fierce at the top (~40mph), but clear skies.
Was able to glissade from just below Red Banks to Lake Helen. Glissade conditions below Lake Helen were not so good.
Hiked out to Bunny Flats on same day as summit.
larch32 - Jun 6, 2018 9:35 am Date Climbed: May 4, 2016
Skied it!
Boy, I suck at skiing, but I sure did feel like I'd made the right decision when I zipped past dozens of people post-holing with 60 pound packs on.
SuperChthonic - May 3, 2018 5:56 pm Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2009
Shasta summit
Via CC and loved it. Since then 13 more summits of Shasta via various routes. I love this mountain. It has almost killed me but my love remains.
Wheelbarrow - Feb 5, 2018 9:38 pm Date Climbed: Apr 5, 2017
Shasta really kicked my Butte
10pm push from Bunny Flats to the summit via Green Butte and back to car in 13 hours including a 2.5 hour nap at 13,000 feet. First time having my camelbak freeze =)
dgkirk - Dec 25, 2017 1:05 am Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2016
My first 14er
Reached the summit via Avalanche Gulch, with base camp at Lake Helen. Party of 3. Perfect blue bird day.
wdimpfl - Dec 22, 2017 3:53 am Date Climbed: Jun 1, 1970
Whitney Glacier
Date approximate. John Birks and I were graduate students in chemistry at UC Berkeley. I had attempted the Whitney Glacier route the winter of 1969 with Arlene Blum and the UC Hiking club, but we were stormed off. A year and a half later John and I climbed the route successfully, making camp on the Whitney glacier and practicing jumping crevasses.
Yulia Zi - Dec 11, 2017 6:16 pm Date Climbed: Dec 10, 2017
Dec Summit via AG
Blessed with the good weather, we originally wanted to try a Green Butte route, but due to the "not enough snow" concerns switched to Avalanche Gulch. Icy but very doable. Were not able to glissade down, too much ice coverage and icefall hazard. Had to dig up the summit registry, last signed in Oct. No summits in Nov?
dspencer - Apr 21, 2019 8:30 am Date Climbed: May 21, 2017
AG Guided2 night trip with Shasha Mtn guides up AG with dad. Dad made it to the top of Red Banks. Summited. Lots of rock fall on the way back down in the PM. Great conditions overall.
dspencer - Apr 21, 2019 8:27 am
AG Attempt (second Shasta attempt)led a group of friends up AG. Deep snow slowed our progress and some other factors led to stopping at Helen.
dspencer - Apr 21, 2019 8:25 am
West Face Attemptled a group of service members from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA (we were all studying Arabic) up the West face. Altitude sickness hit a few members of the group and we turned back at the base of misery hill.
travel_murse - Mar 24, 2019 10:13 am Date Climbed: Nov 17, 2018
Shasty!Bulletproof ice. Axes were only superficially scratching the ice
chrisgrames - Feb 13, 2019 9:17 am Date Climbed: Jul 1, 2017
First Mountaineering Climb - Shasta 2017First mountaineering climb with my two brothers. Great introduction to the sport.
pezzotto - Oct 18, 2018 5:52 pm Date Climbed: Apr 29, 2018
First Shasta summitWent up the Avalanche Gulch.Three days but could have done in two. Weather was perfect if not too cold in the morning. The descent post-summit was a long slosh in the melting snow.
rafiq - Sep 10, 2018 1:53 pm Date Climbed: Jul 6, 2013
Mt. Shasta - West FaceMy fist climb with crampon and in rope team situation. This climb changed me from a hiker to aspiring amateur mountaineer.
Yulia Zi - Jul 22, 2018 7:00 pm Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2018
July Summit via Hotlum-Bolum RidgeThis was the least snow I've seen on this mountain so far. The weather perfect. Loose rock + scree in crampons was the most challenging part, both on the way up and even more so on the way down. A great endurance climb.
Do not take a low clearance vehicle for the last 8+miles offroad. Our Prius could not make it. We parked next to the train tracks.
sierramtngoat - Jul 6, 2018 11:46 am Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2018
Avalanche GulchClimbed with long time friend and partner Dave. Hit continuous snow at 50/50. Snow pack in the chute to the right of the "dog bone" in the Red Banks was firm, with no moats by on either side. Summit day was windy and very cold; climbed in my down jacket, which rarely happens. Met several rope teams of all young ladies from Alabama; very impressive and inspiring.
Route Climbed: Hotlum Bolam Ridge Date Climbed: July 31, 2016 Success!
Solo Dayhike Traverse from North to South:
It had been a while since I went up Hotlum-Bolam Ridge, so what better way to do it than as a dayhike, traversing all of Shasta? This had been a dream of mine for a very long time. The route is in a different kind of shape than I had remembered, a lot looser on the approach, give yourself some extra time for that. The H-B Ridge is currently exposed all the way to the ramp but no crevasses that I could see; there were open ones 10 years ago when the ridge was not exposed below the ramp, so stay close to the ridge. A couple told me that they had failed to stay on the ridge proper, above the rabbit ears; there is a class 3 scramble if you climb high between the rabbit ears and the ridge. After gaining the rige, stay on the ridge until the headwall where you climb the couloir climbers right; you would then top out on the north summit. Here is my Strava for the climb. It shows the shortcut I use for the first 1000 ft. (saves 30-45 min). https://www.strava.com/activities/660957525
Route Climbed: Hotlum-Bolam Ridge Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2006 Success!
Climbed with balajisv, dnriley, Dan, and Alex. The conditions were great with clear skies and low wind, but it was a bit on the warm side which made the descent a bit sloppy. The center of the "ramp" was 2" of snow on top of ice, so if you are thinking of glissading the ramp, be careful. Though climbing rope slowed our ascent, it seemed practical in hindsight as one of my partners punched though a snow bridge up to his shoulders, below and right of the bergschrund.
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: August 14, 2005 Success!
Solo dayhike, nine hours from Bunny Flat. The runnels were pretty deep above Helen Lake which made the climb awkward, but not difficult. There was still snow in the chutes, but none on misery hill.
Route Climbed: Cascade Gulch Date Climbed: June 15, 2003 Success!
Pretty, aesthetic route. Climbed with my buddy Brad under a full moon; we were all alone on the route. Windy as all hell at the Shastina saddle. Crossing the Whitney Glacier was not difficult.
Route Climbed: Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: June 28, 2002 Success!
Birthday climb with my Cousin Morgan. We made good time up to the plateau, took a breather, then bagged the summit. Enjoyed a birthday shot of baily's after we got back to Helen Lake.
Route Climbed: Hotlum/Wintun Ridge Date Climbed: July 29, 2001 Success!
Climbed with Maria; we ascended on the right side of the ridge, then crossed over to the Wintun Glacier. The snow was soft, the sun was hot, but the summit was freezing... welcome to Mt. Shasta.
Route Climbed: Helen Lake/Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 9, 2000 Success!
Repeated this route with my buddy Brian as he got sick the first time around and only attended the snow school. It was a lot warmer, but more cloudy... a difficult trade off.
Route Climbed: Helen Lake/Avalanche Gulch Date Climbed: July 9, 2000 Success!
Climbed with SWS and my buddy Brian and a collegue. I was a bit out of shape at the time so the climbing was difficult. Some crazy looking guy with frozen snot stuck to his moustache passed us on his way down and the guide said, "you know, we don't have to end up looking like that guy, are you sure you want to continue?" HELL YES!!!
Jeff Hester - Jun 29, 2018 7:04 am Date Climbed: Jun 23, 2018
1st Time AscentHiked Mount Shasta as an overnight trip, camping at Lake Helen on Friday. Started climbing Avalanche Gulch at 3:20am. Reached the summit about 7 hours later. Mostly snow from 50/50 camp and above, but it's melting fast and there were patches of rock/scree to cross on Misery Hill.
Winds were fierce at the top (~40mph), but clear skies.
Was able to glissade from just below Red Banks to Lake Helen. Glissade conditions below Lake Helen were not so good.
Hiked out to Bunny Flats on same day as summit.
larch32 - Jun 6, 2018 9:35 am Date Climbed: May 4, 2016
Skied it!Boy, I suck at skiing, but I sure did feel like I'd made the right decision when I zipped past dozens of people post-holing with 60 pound packs on.
SuperChthonic - May 3, 2018 5:56 pm Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2009
Shasta summitVia CC and loved it. Since then 13 more summits of Shasta via various routes. I love this mountain. It has almost killed me but my love remains.
Wheelbarrow - Feb 5, 2018 9:38 pm Date Climbed: Apr 5, 2017
Shasta really kicked my Butte10pm push from Bunny Flats to the summit via Green Butte and back to car in 13 hours including a 2.5 hour nap at 13,000 feet. First time having my camelbak freeze =)
dgkirk - Dec 25, 2017 1:05 am Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2016
My first 14erReached the summit via Avalanche Gulch, with base camp at Lake Helen. Party of 3. Perfect blue bird day.
wdimpfl - Dec 22, 2017 3:53 am Date Climbed: Jun 1, 1970
Whitney GlacierDate approximate. John Birks and I were graduate students in chemistry at UC Berkeley. I had attempted the Whitney Glacier route the winter of 1969 with Arlene Blum and the UC Hiking club, but we were stormed off. A year and a half later John and I climbed the route successfully, making camp on the Whitney glacier and practicing jumping crevasses.
Yulia Zi - Dec 11, 2017 6:16 pm Date Climbed: Dec 10, 2017
Dec Summit via AGBlessed with the good weather, we originally wanted to try a Green Butte route, but due to the "not enough snow" concerns switched to Avalanche Gulch. Icy but very doable. Were not able to glissade down, too much ice coverage and icefall hazard. Had to dig up the summit registry, last signed in Oct. No summits in Nov?
patricklynch88 - Sep 14, 2017 3:52 pm Date Climbed: Jul 23, 2017
Bunny Flats TrailheadMount Shasta via Bunny Flats Trailhead and Avalanche Gulch. Day trip. 7,300 ft elevation gain. Party of 7.
Harvest - Aug 2, 2017 4:25 pm Date Climbed: Mar 13, 2017
Climb On- Attempt of Avalanche Gulch on 12/3/16. 60 mph winds at camp and 80 mph winds above us. No the summit. Party of 3.
- Ascent of Avalanche Gulch via the Red Banks Chimneys variation on 3/13/17. Party of two.
- Solo ascent of Sargents Ridge on 4/15/17. Party of three. Two turned back.
- Ascent of the West Face Gulley on 5/14/17. Party of three.
- Ascent of Casaval Ridge on 5/26/17. Party of three.
BooRadley - Jul 21, 2017 1:10 pm Date Climbed: Jul 2, 2017
Great day!Camped at Helen Lake and got a 4am start for the summit. Perfect day with great views of Lassen and McLoughlin.
triyoda - Jul 13, 2017 12:49 am Date Climbed: Jul 9, 2017
Whitney GlacierIt's a long way to the top if you wanna rock & roll.