A three day, two night mountaineering expedition on the largest volcano in the Cascade Range: Mount Shasta! We hike to camp, where we'll teach a thorough snow school to build efficiency and safety techniques needed to climb Shasta with a guide. The next day, we'll get a predawn "alpine" start to attempt the summit and descend back to camp. After a hot dinner we'll get a full night's sleep before packing up camp and returning to the trailhead on day 3. The 3 Day program is perfect for most climbers and provides a more thorough snow school and much needed rest after the long summit day. All participants on this program should be in excellent mountain fitness.
Route options include: Avalanche Gulch, West Face, Brewer Creek, Clear Creek.
Dates
Available Dates
Prices
Refer to prices on overview pageItinerary
Day 1
8:00 am Meet your guide at the in town. We'll do a quick gear check and review the plan for the day. The guide will discuss the route up to camp and we'll make any last minute adjustments needed. Caravan to the trailhead.
The rest of the day will be spent ascending to camp and building camp where you will learn about camp craft.
Day 2
Snow School
In this program we'll cover:
- Ski Mountaineering Gear
- Ice Axe Techniques including Self Arrest and Team Arrest (for Glacier Travel)
- Crampon Techniques
- Mountaineering efficiency including the Rest Step
- Descending techniques for mountaineering
- Basics of rope team travel
Early dinner and bed
Day 3
Alpine Start. Your guides will set the time based on warming for the day and the weather forecast.
Summit Attempt. This will be a long day, gaining over 4,000’ of elevation over various snow surfaces and steep slopes.
Descent. Once we reach our high point, we’ll descend the route.
Pack Up Camp and Return to Trailhead. We’ll break down camp, pack up our bags and descend to the trailhead.
Equipment
Shasta Alpine Climbing Equipment List
Gear Guide / Packing List
Avalanche Gear (depending on season)
- Avalanche Beacon - Digital Avalanche Transceiver; Black Diamond Guide Recon BT
- Avalanche Shovel - Collapsible, Aluminum Shovel; Backcountry Access BT2 Shovel
- Avalanche Probe - Quickdraw Style Probe; Backcountry Access Stealth 300
Technical Gear
- Climbing Helmet - CE Rated Helmet; Petzl Sirocco or Black Diamond Vision
- Headlamp - LED headlamp with fresh batteries; Petzl Actik Core
- Climbing Harness - Light Alpine Harness; Petzl Altitude, Mammut Zephyr Altitude
- Two Locking Carabiners - Petzl Attache, etc
- Crampons, Steel 12 Point - Steel Crampons Compatible with Your Boots; Petzl Vasak
- Lightweight Ice Axe - A light axe for mountaineering; Petzl Glacier, BD Raven
- Gaiters (optional)
Head and Neck Layers
- Sun Hat - A Baseball Hat; Blackbird Mountain Guides Logo Hat
- Sunglasses - Dark Lens Glasses with Side Coverage; Julbo Shield
- Goggles - Ski Goggles with a Storm Lens; Julbo Aerospace Reactive
- Warm Hat - Lightweight Warm Hat that Fits Under Your Helmet
- Neck Gaiter - Light to Midweight Neck Gaiters; Buff or your favorite Face Masks
Upper Body and Hand Layers
- Long Sleeve Base Layer - Lightweight, Synthetic/Wool; Patagonia SunHoody
- 2 Insulating Top Layers - Light to Midweight Insulation Layers; Patagonia R1 & NanoAir
- Puffy - Midweight Down or Synthetic with Hood; Patagonia Fitzroy or similar
- Hardshell Jacket, Hooded - Waterproof, Light, Gore-Tex, NOT insulated; Arc’Teryx Alpha FL
- Light Gloves - Light to Mid Weight for Warm Temps; Flylow John Henry Gloves, BD Tour
- Midweight Gloves - Mid to Heavy Weight for Cold Conditions; BD Legend
- Sports Bra - Wool/Synthetic
Lower Body and Foot Layers
- Socks - Midweight Wool/Synthetic, 2-3 pair; Darn Tough Via Ferrata
- Underwear - Wool/Synthetic, 1 extra pair
- Long Underwear - Wool/Synthetic “Long Johns”; Patagonia Capilene Air
- Softshell Ski Pants - Breathable, Weather Resistant Pants; OR Trailbreaker II
- Vented Hardshell Ski Pants - (Conditions dependent) Waterproof Pants for Extreme Weather
Camping & Backpacking Gear
- Sleeping Bag - Down or Synthetic Rated to 0F-20F; Feathered Friends Egret UL 20
- Sleeping Pad - Insulated Inflatable Air Mattress; Therm-a-Rest NeoAir X-Therm, X-Lite
- Compression Stuff Sack - To Pack Sleeping Bag; Ultralight Compression Stuff Sack 10L
- Backpack - Lightweight, Simple 45-60 Liter Pack; Patagonia Alpinist 50, BD Speed 50 - MUST FIT ALL OF YOUR GEAR, FOOD, and YOUR SHARE OF GROUP GEAR
Food and Water
- Dinner - Your Favorite Freeze Dried or “Just-Add-Hot-Water” Meal for Each Night in the Field
- Breakfast - Your Favorite Freeze Dried or “Just-Add-Hot-Water” Meal for Each Morning in the Field
- Hot Drinks - For After Dinner and During Breakfast; Instant Coffee, Decaffeinated Tea, Hot Cocoa, Tang, Whatever You Prefer
- Half Liter Nalgene Bottle - A Hard Sided Water Bottled that Can Act as your Mug For Hot Drinks and Water Bottle During the Climb; Nalgene 16oz Wide Mouth Bottle
- Soft Water Bottle 1.5L - Flexible Water Bladder; Hydrapak Flux 1.5L
***Please bring at least one hard sided water bottle.
- Water Treatment or Filtration - Katadyn BeFree Filter Connects to Hydrapak Flux Bottles
- Bowl - Reuse your Freeze Dried Dinner Bag as Your Bowl, or Bring Another
- Spoon - 9” Long Handled Spoon (For Eating Food in a Bag); GSI Essential Spoon Long
- Snacks - Snacks and Lunch food for each day of the trip
Other Essentials
- Sun Screen (SPF 30 minimum)
- Lip Balm (with SPF)
- Hand Sanitizer
- Toilet Paper
- Blister Kit for Blister Prevention
Optional
- First Aid
- Chemical Hand Warmers
- Hydration System - Flexible Water Bladder with Hose; Hydrapak, Camelback, Platypus
Group Gear
Blackbird Mountain Guides will supply all of the group gear for the trip, including:
- Slingfin Tents (Designed and Headquartered in Berkeley, CA)
- Stoves
- Fuel for Stoves
- Ropes
- Snow Pickets (if required)
- Rock Protection (if required)
- Guide’s First Aid Kits
- Wag Bags (Solid Human Waste Disposal Bags)