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Topic: July 8th, 2009, Mt. Shasta, Wintun Glacier (Read 1508 times)
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powdherb
5Member
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Posts: 37
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A persistent late spring in the Sierra Nevada has kept me and my attaché from doing extended excursions up until mid-june. While I usually have dismissed Shasta (admittedly foolishly) on my way from Seattle to Points South, I decided it was worth a closer look. While we could have gone and done some alpine rock foolishness in the Southern Sierra, there still too much snow to climb and too little to make skiing worth it (IMHO LOLZ).
In reality, Shasta is a skier's mountain. It sits high enough to get substantial snow so it has a lot of PNW characteristics however it is south enough to enjoy the good NorCal weather. The steeper sides are steep enough to keep your attention while offering extended no-bullshit 4000 foot fall lines of continuous pitch and angle. I also like the fact that access if cheap or free and regulation on the North and East sides is pretty minimal.
We and another car were the only cars at Brewer creek and they departed as we arrived. We camped at about 8500' feet in some unattractive sandy choss at the base of the lowest continuous band of snow from the summit.
The cold made my phone die and alarm failed so we were climbing by ~6 am, some time after sunrise. I would have estimated the temperatures to be in the upper 20's at 8k that night. A hard freeze made climbing easy and progress fast. As we neared the summit, heavy clouds began to form and we experienced some intermittent snow flurries. The top of the route veers left into a steeper couloir around 40 degrees for about 1000 feet. The corn up top was amazing but cloudy conditions were instituting a refreeze. We skied the top 1500 in zero visibility after waiting on the freezing cold and snowy summit area for almost an hour. Upon reaching the cloud bank, we were treated to miles of ripper corn and high speed carving. It was rad.
In summary, Shasta offers some of the best fall line I have experienced as well as ease of access for those who don't always feel the need for scary super gnar; just high-quality skiing.
Liz on the upper glacier.
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Dr. Telemark
5Member
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Posts: 24
WWW
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I really want to do this mountain. Thanks for the TR as a reminder to look south once in a while.
Dr. Telemark
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Jim Oker
TAY Moderator
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Posts: 1226
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Thanks for the report - certainly does give me added motivation to get down there some early summer...
Dear Dr. Telemark: have you ever seen the video Revenge of the Telemarkers? It's been a long time since I've seen it, but your handle just reminded me of it, and of Dickie Hall's general silliness - wondering if that's the source of your username (along with wondering how Dickie and NATO are doing)...
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ryanl
Member
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Posts: 305
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You'll have to show me around down there sometime- looks like a lot of fun.
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skimtner
Member
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Posts: 101
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- just a tip, the run that continues below the upper chute, has a more consistent fall-line than looker's right of the Hotlum/Wintun ridge. it is obvious at the bottom, where to traverse back to climber's right.
and when you ski by the large rock below the chute, staying left is safest.
Great Report, and pics.
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powdherb
5Member
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Posts: 37
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We were intending on skiing the skier's right or dead fall line to the skiers right of the cleaver. Unfortunately 0 viz made me have doubts skiing a half-mile wide bowl with no landmarks or rocks. It's definitely the way to go, though.
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markharf
Moderator
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Posts: 587
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As moderator, I removed one post from this thread. Thanks for keeping it civil and supportive.
Mark
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