Climbing Mount Shasta

A few weeks ago I had the chance to complete a couple goals at once on Mount Shasta.  Nearly 10 years ago to the day I had been Mount Shasta but was turned back due to weather. 

While on the mountain I watched several people skiing back to the car and remember thinking "what the hell am I doing walking, I have to learn to ski".  So fast forward 10 years and this time I have my skis on my pack and my 60+ year old Dad in toe. 

The year my Dad turned 60 he decided he wanted to climb Mt. Rainer and make a dramatic life change in terms of getting in shape and eating better.  So we decided it was time to start getting into the mountains together, starting that year with a summer trip up 14,505 foot Mount Whitney.  The following year he made an attempt on Mount Rainer, but wasn't quite in ready in terms of technical skills and conditioning.  So we decided that climbing Mount Shasta at 14,180ft in  spring using crampons and ice axes would be a good training run for his attempt this coming summer on Rainer. 

My Dad lives in the Seattle area so a friend and I drove North and meet my Dad in Shasta City and spent the night at the Bunny Flat trail head (6,950ft).  We then hiked/skied up to Helen lake at 10,400ft to spend a short night before a very early alpine start up the route while it was still frozen and safe from rock fall. 

After a short rest at the top of Avalanche Gulch and stopping to take lots of photos we made the summit a little before noon.  While the view was amazing, sharing a second 14er with my Dad was something that will be with me the rest of my life.   On the way back down we meet up with my friend who had summited earlier.  He and my Dad started hiking back down so I could complete the second goal of the trip; skiing as much of the mountain as conditions allowed.  

After waiting for the snow to soften till about 2pm, I strapped on my Telemark Skis and enjoyed the best ski run of my life.  5,000ft+ of spring corn with a quick lunch stop at Helen lake to pick up our overnight gear.  All told I skied from about 13,000ft (the summit was too icy) to the car in about an hour and a half.  I was well into a second cold beer and a nap by the time my Dad arrived back at the car. 

My Dad got the summit, I got my ski...  Success for all!