June 14-15, 2003, Mt Shasta
6/14/03
US elsewhere
2645
3
Silas, Alberto, Dave and I did a marathon weekend Mt Shasta ski ascent via Clear Creek. The marathon part was the drive, not the ski!
Made it to Grants Pass Friday night after getting out of Seattle during rush "hour". Saturday morning we met up with Tom and Jan ("Yan") from Santa Rosa. The original plan was to ski the Hotlum/Wintun route but the road was still closed quite far from the TH by downed trees and snow.
Trees blocked the Clear Creek road short of the TH, so the approach was 2 miles with skis on pack followed by about 3 miles of skinning. Camped at ~8800 ft which left 5300 ft for the next day. Woke at 3 am with intent to get going by 4 am. - we were a little slow so didn't leave until closer to 4:45. 3 started out skinning and 3 with boot crampons. Dave and I quickly converted to boots while Alberto was able to skin most of the way. The ascent was mostly snow fields with 4-5 sections of loose rock to cross.
Summit was an absolute zoo with a constant stream of people coming up from Avalanche Gulch. We waited until a little after 1 pm to start the ski down. The slopes had softened, but the first 1K was crunchy 10" furrows (beginning penitents??) that required aggressive turns. The next 4k+ was nice corn snow.
The drive back was mind numbing and ended with a 4 a.m. arrival in Seattle. Here's was few pic's:
http://home.attbi.com/~rschwartz45/wsb/html/view.cgi-photo.html--SiteID-742348.html
Made it to Grants Pass Friday night after getting out of Seattle during rush "hour". Saturday morning we met up with Tom and Jan ("Yan") from Santa Rosa. The original plan was to ski the Hotlum/Wintun route but the road was still closed quite far from the TH by downed trees and snow.
Trees blocked the Clear Creek road short of the TH, so the approach was 2 miles with skis on pack followed by about 3 miles of skinning. Camped at ~8800 ft which left 5300 ft for the next day. Woke at 3 am with intent to get going by 4 am. - we were a little slow so didn't leave until closer to 4:45. 3 started out skinning and 3 with boot crampons. Dave and I quickly converted to boots while Alberto was able to skin most of the way. The ascent was mostly snow fields with 4-5 sections of loose rock to cross.
Summit was an absolute zoo with a constant stream of people coming up from Avalanche Gulch. We waited until a little after 1 pm to start the ski down. The slopes had softened, but the first 1K was crunchy 10" furrows (beginning penitents??) that required aggressive turns. The next 4k+ was nice corn snow.
The drive back was mind numbing and ended with a 4 a.m. arrival in Seattle. Here's was few pic's:
http://home.attbi.com/~rschwartz45/wsb/html/view.cgi-photo.html--SiteID-742348.html
Fun pictures - I really like the descent route photo - most informative.
I've got a Shasta trip cooking myself...you wouldn't happen to know how the Whitney Falls road fairing - is this passable? Was your original destination Brewer Creek?
I've got a Shasta trip cooking myself...you wouldn't happen to know how the Whitney Falls road fairing - is this passable? Was your original destination Brewer Creek?
Brewer Creek was the original destinations, but you should call for current conditions. The road snow is melting really fast and they are starting to clear trees, so the other roads may open soon.
Right on. Thanks for the info. Funny though, I almost never call Ranger stations for info on trails if all they are doing is policing parking lots and collecting money at access points (sarcasm is rich this am). I much prefer the 'man (or women) on the scene'. Can't tell you how many times I've gotten bad info from Park and Forest Rangers.
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