Climbing Mt. Shasta, CA in April - Any Experience?

[AlexeyD]

HA, that is what I use it for back in Tennessee!

This is true...ice axes can be useful for beers, bears, and many other things not at all related to the Casaval...

All joking aside, though - if you are truly looking for advice, it's helpful to be more specific about your experience; instead, it almost seems like you're being deliberately vague, saying things like "good experience in a variety conditions". That doesn't really tell us much. Seriously: what were the circumstances in which you used the axe?

In all honesty, however, this long-winded discussion can really be summed up in a single sentence: if you have never climbed a snow-covered mountain before, starting with the Casaval in April without a guide or some kind of experienced leadership is a really, really, super-duper bad idea. That's about all I can really say.

[SoCool]

much good advice was given by many 14ers.com members.

Mt. Shasta is a fun mountain, been there a couple times. My advice to anyone is to gain enough snow travel experience to do this peak some day, along with its conical neighbors. These rimy summits are worthwhile.

[whitetailbowhunter]

John,

Again, I do appreciate your input and all of the input from this thread. It has been critical in our decision to gain some additional experience before attempting Casaval.

All of my mountaineering and Canyoneering experience has been taken right up to the line of needing ropes or feeling comfortable without ropes. I've planned prior trips like that BECAUSE I have no technical rope experience. It sounds like that really is the next area I need to focus on because it is really keeping me from being able to do some of the things that I want to accomplish at this point.

My mountaineering (not hiking) routes have all been 14ers that are class 3+ and below so that I did not feel the need to be roped. Some have required small bits of free climb on exposed ridges, but I felt comfortable doing that. I am completely comfortable with Snowshoes and have hiked a lot with them. Ice Axe and crampon use has been limited to St. Mary's Glacier in Idaho Springs and Mt. LeConte. (Again, snow/ice travel is SOME but not enough to say that I have a lot of experience.) which is why I started the conversation down playing what I have done, because I have researched in depth the intensity of this climb.

Canyoneering wise, I have always stuck to slot canyons that did not need ropes. I spent a week exploring slots all throughout Grand Staircase Escalante and southern Utah a few years back. (We probably went through 8 named slots and a few no named). Last week I just returned from Big Bend National Park on a 38 mile hike through the Chiahuahuan desert. We canoed into Mexico and explored the Fern Canyon and a few other no named slots in Mexico. None required ropes, but they sure did require bouldering techniques and short free climbs.

Again, I'm not trying to justify this against Casaval. I'm trying to help you understand why I was trying to justify my past experiences to skills that would help me up Casaval.

[whitetailbowhunter]

much good advice was given by many 14ers.com members.

Mt. Shasta is a fun mountain, been there a couple times. My advice to anyone is to gain enough snow travel experience to do this peak some day, along with its conical neighbors. These rimy summits are worthwhile.

Summed up well!

[polar]

which is why I started the conversation down playing what I have done, because I have researched in depth the intensity of this climb.

I don't think anyone feels that you're downplaying your skill and experience level. Earlier in this thread I actually thought Scott P was being a little too harsh on you. But the more you replied and insisted that you have experience, the more I realized that he was right. You may be an experienced hiker, scrambler, and snowshoer, but that doesn't give you any experience in steep snow/ice climbing. I started the other thread as a parody to show that none of the experiences you listed has any relevance to what you were thinking to attempt. But of course pride is hard to swallow, so you keep up-playing (not downplaying) your other experiences. But seriously, avy knowledge from "backcountry" snowboarding at Copper and A-Basin? Canyoneering experience that doesn't require rope work? Crampon and ice ax experience from St. Mary's Glacier and Mt. Le Conte? Mountaineering experience from hiking class 3 14ers? You're just digging yourself deeper and deeper.

[mtn_nut]

Just to throw out a crazy idea, why not try the standard route for your first try. After that,try casaval. Or if you don't want to climb avalanche gulch, Clear Creek was a really fun climb I did last year.

[kaiman]

Just to throw out a crazy idea, why not try the standard route for your first try. After that,try casaval. Or if you don't want to climb avalanche gulch, Clear Creek was a really fun climb I did last year.

There's also time between now and your climb in April to get out and practice ice axe and crampon work in the mountains and also take a couple days of ice climbing instruction. If you don't do either of these things however, I would agree with mtn_nut that you may want to reconsider your route options. You also want to rely on your own abilities and NOT have to rely too much on your climbing partner in case either of you get into trouble.

Just my two cents,

Kai

[Jump Roper]

Mount Shasta, still my favorite 14er of all time! I hiked it about a year and a half ago in October.

[SoCool]

Mount Shasta, still my favorite 14er of all time! I hiked it about a year and a half ago in October.

Knowing you, probably you did an awesome victory dance on the summit.

[lazy climber]

As others have indicated if this is your first big hill I would opt for Avalanche Gulch, it may be a bit crowded but the Camp at Helens Lake is always entertaining and you can still get into trouble on the climb but not as much or as fast as you could on the Ridge Route.

Another option would be the West Face from Hidden Valley, its a longer approach and the face is steep for 3000 feet but no big hazards, the top of the face puts you out at the top of Casaval Ridge just below misery hill.