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For those who have climbed Shasta, what are the date ranges to get a good snow climb up there in decent consolidated snow conditions?
I know it depends on the year's snowfall, etc, but it appears early May-mid July are rough bookend dates, but am open to hearing any thoughts.

nyker...I am climbing Shasta in mid June. Let me know if you are going to be in area around same time.

We climbed the Avalanche Gulch route in late June 2009 and snow conditions were excellent. We were able to put crampons on a little below the base camp at Helen Lake and kept them on until the summit.

ok, cool thanks guys. Apasquel, I will let you know if our scheduling can match up!

Anyone done (or doing) the Cascade Gulch route? I'm thinking of doing Shasta next summer and would like to do Shastina as well. Seems like Cascade Gulch is the standard route for tagging both, but I'm wondering how sketchy that traverse is between the Whitney Glacier bergschrund and the West Ridge.

Hidden Valley is the perfect camp for both Shastina and Shasta. The climb up the Whitney Headwall is very steep and needs to be protected. If you do not plan to bring tech. gear you can simply rejoin the West Face Route after your Shastina Climb. I was up there last week and it is nice!

mountainramble wrote:Hidden Valley is the perfect camp for both Shastina and Shasta. The climb up the Whitney Headwall is very steep and needs to be protected. If you do not plan to bring tech. gear you can simply rejoin the West Face Route after your Shastina Climb. I was up there last week and it is nice!

Thanks, mountainramble. So you'd just start up from the saddle between the two peaks and then stay south of the West Ridge instead of north of it?

Yes, traversing under the crumbled cliff ban that separates it from the Whitney brings you to several small gullies that connect at the top with the "West Face" Route. It is easier to traverse lower first then climb than it is to work your way through the crumbled scree mess that makes-up the ridge proper. All of this is visible from camp in Hidden Valley (which has open water in spring). I tried to send a photo of that exact climb from last week but the file is too big and my computer skills are too small.

Thanks so much. Very helpful info.

Hi all, I wanted to revisit this thread again!

I'd really like to climb Shasta this year - targeting late May or possibly late June (if that's not too late for a good snow climb).

For those who have climbed it, how does the Avalanche Gulch route (more popular) differ vs the West Face?

West: http://14erskiers.com/blog/2013/06/tr-s ... west-face/

South: http://14erskiers.com/blog/2012/06/shas ... june-2012/

Trying to talk my GF into this as her first 14er. Her name is Shasta...