Home > Trip Reports > June 9-11, 2005, Mt Shasta - West Face

June 9-11, 2005, Mt Shasta - West Face

6/9/05
US elsewhere
4663
6
Posted by snoslut on 6/12/05 9:31pm
6/9
After taking care of some business in Tacoma I started making my way south on I-5 by 8:30am.  First stop was in Grand Mound to carpool with Jon.  By 11am we were cruising.  The Audi S4 made quick work of the 7 or so hours down 5.  Even after rest stops, gas, and munchies the drive went smooth.  Only hickup was the serious cop trap between Oregon and Cali.  Must have been a donut convention somewhere in the area. ;D

By 7pm we pulled up next to Chris and Rene.  Apparently they had made the drive thru the night and were crashed for an am assault on the summit.  The parking area at Bunny Flats (6,900ft) was already 3/4 full.  After obtaining our permits, just $15, we soon learned that it was the only one required, contrary to what was posted on the web.  After taking our time and getting our gear ready, patchy high clouds from the west moved in and sprinkled some rain on us.  It was brief.  It was nice being able to skin from across the street and not having to carry our splits.  Actually it opened up some weight for other necessities. 8)  By 8pm we were skinning the 2 miles and gaining the 1,000ft to Horse Camp at 7,900ft.  Should be interesting trying to find Marco and Rick in the dark.  By 9pm I found myself zig-zagging around tents looking for them.  Eventually I heard a voice so I called out Marco or Rick?  It was a guys voice so I called again.  Then I heard a female.  Nope not them.  Uh good time to give up and hunker down ourselves.  By 11pm camp set, bellies full, commence guiness comsuption under clear skies and the stars.

6/10
Awoke from my warm slumber to sun and a gentle breeze after 8am.  Got on the radio and called out for Marco or Rick.  Turns out they camped within the trees some 200ft behind us.  Yup right next to the lodge and it's bathroom and running water.  Well after breakfast and a brief discussion of destination our group of 4 were skinning by 10am.  One by one we arrived at Helen Lake around noon.  My altimeter read 10,385ft.  Marco and Rick's read 10,400ft.  Terrain looks super steep on the approach but it really is not.  Just rolling knolls and gullies spread out a long ways.  The view of the surrounding rock formations making up the cirque above Avalanche Gulch/Red Banks is amazing.  Also adding to the were the avi debris from recent point releases.  Seemed like the majority of steep chutes were gone but the place is so damn expansive.

Marco, Rick, Jon, and myself all snacked and marinated in the sun.  At 1pm we started our 2,500ft run back down to camp.  Snow on upper portion was corn then slowly becoming mush as we arrived back to camp.  The surface directly below the lake had a bit of wind/boot effect to it but it soon smoothed out.  Near camp it was bit more sun-cupped.  It all carved like butta.  Back at camp we discussed our itinerary for the next day.  A summit shot with West Face descent.  Plan was to be up by 2am and hiking by 2:30.  Soon after a nice meal followed by my libation of choice, I was in my happy place.  Then all of a sudden dark clouds started to roll in.  We all thought to ourselves is it going to rain.  We raced back to our camps and prepared gear for the next day.  By that time the sun came back out.  I eventually crawled into my bivy by 7pm.  Shortly after it started to freakin rain.  First just a drizzle and then a pour.  Sounded like someone playing the drums above me.  2am came too quick.

6/11
So 2am rolls around and I just stay in my sack.  Took a peek outta my bivy and saw the rain drops that had frozen all over my bivy.  Finding motivation to get up was real difficult.  However when Marco showed up around 2:30 it was time to get ready.  When I asked about Rick he mentioned he wasn't joining us this time.  That was a bummer.  So by 3:15 Jon and I started making our way up.  3 hours later we were at Helen Lake again.  This is where Jon, Marco, and myself put our crampons on.  From here it was one foot in front of the other.  Between making sure you had a footing and looking up at falling debris, the climb went slow.  Yup climbing this pitch felt like being a pin in a bowling alley.  I witnessed one guy drop his water bottle.  I yelled out to Marco, who was 20 or so feet below and he watched it go inbetween his legs.  Since I was another 20 feet below I went for it.  Bad move.  Water bottle hit my hands so hard that it seperated them and the damn thing hit right above my knee and kept going another 10ft before somehow stopping.  Marco commented that I was a brave man for doing that.  Well I returned the bottle to the owner who didn't even give thanks.  He looked at me and grinned like he was on mushrooms or something.  He couldn't even put the bottle back in his pack.  I had to do it and strap it in.  What a joke.  Next time I'll just watch the missle go down instead of getting in front of it. >:(  After experiencing this I didn't bother resting till I topped the Red Banks.  And wouldn't you know.  Someone else dropped a bottle that reached terminal velocity and slid all the way back to the lake.  Someone else dropped a glove that found a nice steep chute thru the Red Banks.  Anyway I felt the most comfortable on the sections that were frozen.  It was the windslab/packed powder that crumbled beneath each step, sending chucks tumbling down, that was sketch.  Overall the pitch averaged 30 to 40 degrees and resembled the slog up Pikers Peak on Adams.  Biggest difference was not having a boot pack to rest your feet in.  You were pretty much on your toes going up or zig-zagging like crazy.  

I topped the Red Banks sometime after 9am and found myself power resting to prepare for the next pitch to Misery Hill.  About an hour later and after close to another 1,000ft I finally arrived at the base of Misery Hill and caught up with Jon.  I informed him that Marco had turned around a while back.  So we rested for 15 or so minutes and discussed our original objective.  After Jon mentioned that he had put on all layers and was still freezing we abandoned the summit and headed towards Pt. 13,384 and the West Face.  Should have brought the skins for this part.  Roughly 1/3 or maybe half mile of anywhere from ice to 2ft of windblown powder.  And did I say it was windy.  Winds were furious, gust easily at 50mph, from the north.  Seemed like the summit and Misery Hill were diverting the wind around it.  After another hour of this we bumped into another party who had just ascended the West Face.  He said that we were here.  Ah relief.  Didn't speak much since my nose hairs froze the instant I exposed my nose and mouth to talk.  That and the fact we were traversing a 40 degree pitch in gusty winds gave us all the motivation to make the final push into a side chute leading to the west face.

After 8 hours, including some long breaks, Jon and I were ready to start our descent.  I went first making 2 turns in blower pow before sliding across some frozen sections.  We had thought about just lapping the first 20ft of the side chute since it was filled with foot plus of windblown on top of ice. ;D  After going 50ft I was just out of the chute and near the top of the main face.  A board cut released the top few inches of wind slab, which crumbled 50ft below onto the rocks.  I traversed a bit further and found a nice finger of snow leading onto the run proper.  Surface was so smooth with top inch being corn on top a bomb proof base.  I stopped for a moment to watch Jon drop in.  He too released some snow before riding down to me.  The highlight of the harvest were the ribbons of windblown pow that connected over half the 6,000ft run back to Horse Camp.  A few times those pow sections came in handy for speed checks.  Otherwise it was a real hemroid scratching experience.  With the wind it made for some well deserved face shots in mid June. ;D  We stopped for a break around 9k, next to the camps at Hidden Valley.  From here Jon and I were able to weave back to camp on some fine Cali corn.  There was one short carry of 15ft or so but that's it.  We traversed 2 huge bowls to get back.  They both looked perfect for harvest too.  I believe this area was called Giddy Giddy gulch.  And appropriately name too!

The 2 of us arrived back to our camp by 12:30.  We took our time getting our gear packed and headed back down towards Bunny Flats.  Snow was soft and sun-cupped to hell.  I stayed on the boot track when I could.  Within 5 minutes of leaving our camp we were already back at the car.  After packing our gear we took sometime to toast and reflect back at what we had just accomplished.  Sick! 8)  Our accomplishment was the perfect juice we needed to keep us awake for the whole drive home.  I arrived at home at 12:30am still amped.

Here are some photos.  http://community.webshots.com/user/snoslut
Enjoy!
Thanks for the report, snoslut - where exactly was this speed trap, right at the border? My Audi likes to roll, too.

Yup right at the border to Yreka they were in full force.  Apparently there is a hq's there.  This whole time I thought it was Krispy Creme convention.

Yreka has been a capital of Revenue Enhancement for as long as I can remember doing the Wa-cali haul. Watch it in town too if you stop there for gas, the local counties somehow feel they need to get some of that R.E. action too and patrol the main drag ruthlessly.
Nice pics. Your tales of water bottle bombardment remind me again why sometimes (not all the time tho) there's something to be said for starting a little later in the day, when such projectiles stop harmlessly and it's not such a challenge to figure out where you can get your foot to stick. I'm not always so convinced that climbing frozen hard stuff is 'easier' than mush-holing. But of course an early start is usually needed to get the ski down at its prime, so, it's the price to pay.

Nice job snoslut. We were on the top of Shastina on 6/11 and can relate to the high-winds. You picked a good time for your trip, the next day, Sunday, was even windier.

Even windier on Sunday.  Hmmm...kite board up north side and launch off summit booter.  Hey switch backside 1080 half cab. ;D

Yeah snoslut,
I'd love to see that move.  I really wanted to join you at Shasta, but my wife had the weekend off and we ended up at Tioga Pass.  Some day I'll meet up with you at Adams or Rainer.

Reply to this TR

2403
june-9-11-2005-mt-shasta-west-face
snoslut
2005-06-13 04:31:43