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So I'll be heading to Shasta in early/mid June and am hoping to do Lassen prior to Shasta. I know the summit trail is closed for construction however is it still open as a snow climb? That is, if we ever get any snow. Thanks!

Last 20 years the road has opened between May 10 and July 21.
http://www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/w ... update.htm
I recall one July 4th weekend where was still a lot of snow.

Good to know about the road. So even tough the park service lists the first ""open" day for the trail as 30 June we should still be able to do a snow climb prior to that. Thanks for the input.

I skied it last June. We only saw people at the trailhead, except for one random guy on skis that didn't try to climb the peak. He just kind of disappeared. Not sure where he ended up.

It was super cool to be on top of Lassen less than 24 hours after being on top of Shasta, since you can see one from the other. :D

Davebobk47:
I don't think anyone can answer your question until April or May. This is the driest winter in 20 years, so unless we get 20 feet of snow in March ( its happened before) I'd guess the road will open early - mid May. There may not be any snow for a snow climb at that time anyway. Keep in touch with park hq, they'll give you good info as soon as they know themselves.

Davebobk47, we are also looking into climbing Shasta this year. Originally, we wanted to add Lassen as well (good pre-acclimation hike), but now we're not sure it'll be worth the hassle. Specifically, if the road is clear to the trailhead before June 30, will the trail be open? And if the road isn't clear (and the trail is open), we're not very interested in slogging up the road. The NPS log from last year had a June 10 entry that said the road was clear to within a half mile of Lake Helen, which means it was probably a mile or so from the parking area (from what I can tell looking at a map). This year could be much drier or snowier, of course, but at least it's somewhat of a reference.

To me, it's not just about the extra miles, it's the uncertainty, which makes planning our well-choreographed trip difficult. Not to mention, hiking up that snow-covered road could be a postholing slush fest. So now we're looking into other options, like McLoughlin. I think we'll save Lassen for another time ... maybe I'll combine it on a trip to see some of my family members in Chico someday.

BTW, are you planning to climb Shasta in one or two days? Standard Avalanche Gulch route?

I'll be coming up from San Fran so it would be on the way but at this point I'm going to wait until I have a better idea of conditions before deciding to do Lassen. I will be doing Shasta at that time. We are planning two days via Avy Gulch. We're also thinking of doing Eddy as a post Shasta trip.

So conditions are looking great for AG on Shasta and the Lassen Peak road is open to the TH however they just posted that the Lassen Peak summit trail is closed above Grandview: http://www.nps.gov/lavo/parkmgmt/curren ... status.htm

I thought climbing Lassen is okay as long as you stay on the snow. Anyone know if we'll be able to summit Lassen or are we limited to staying on the lower mountain?