Best Weather in Southern Cascades

[kaiman]

Hi Folks,

I am planning a 10 day climbing trip to the southern Cascades this summer and am looking for input from the CA and OR folks on this site as to when to expect the best weather for climbing Shasta, Lassen (if the route is open), the Three Sisters, and Thielsen (and possibly some others).

We will have standard snow/rock gear, but I am wondering when the best weather is in the area? My schedule is flexible so any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

kaiman

[bonehead]

I did much the same trip as yours in October 1976. We had very good weather, but it was a draught year.
Shasta's boxcar route was dry as a bone and a real scree whore. We carried backpacks and slept on top.
Depending on the year, September through early November should offer great stable weather.
June would offer better snow climbs. July and August should have some typical afternoon storms.
Whenever you go, you will enjoy some great climbs and loads of fun.
Pat

[Theodore]

Be sure to check out cascadeclimbers.com, it's a great resource for that range!

I did Hood in mid/late June last year and the slg/south side route was in great shape then, but IIRC it was an above average snow year, usually that is quite late for that route. Also check out Timberline Mountain Guides website. If you look at when they offer trips on those mountains (3 sisters at least) you can get an idea of when the routes are usually in.

[kaiman]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

@ Theodore - Good idea on checking out the cascadeclimbers.org and the local guides to see when they usually lead trips in the area. I climbed Mount Hood via Pearly Gates in late June of 2007, so I have a good idea of what to expect, but the northern Cascades seem to have an entirely different weather pattern from those in northern CA and central OR hence my question.

@ bonehead - I am not sure which route up Shasta we will do yet, I am looking at the Hotlum-Bolam Ridge, but it will depend on conditions. Your right the Boxcar Route looks like a steep-scree slog without snow on it. I figure that as long as I am in the Cascades I might as well do snow climbs. If I want scree I can always head into the Elks or San Juans right?

Does anyone have any links to weather/statistical data for that area?

Thanks again,

kaiman

[Shasta Locales]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

@ Theodore - Good idea on checking out the cascadeclimbers.org and the local guides to see when they usually lead trips in the area. I climbed Mount Hood via Pearly Gates in late June of 2007, so I have a good idea of what to expect, but the northern Cascades seem to have an entirely different weather pattern from those in northern CA and central OR hence my question.

@ bonehead - I am not sure which route up Shasta we will do yet, I am looking at the Hotlum-Bolam Ridge, but it will depend on conditions. Your right the Boxcar Route looks like a steep-scree slog without snow on it. I figure that as long as I am in the Cascades I might as well do snow climbs. If I want scree I can always head into the Elks or San Juans right?

Does anyone have any links to weather/statistical data for that area?

Thanks again,

kaiman

The Hotlum-Bolam ridge should be good if you're going later in the summer. The road to the Brewer Creek trailhead sometimes doesn't open up all the way until mid- to late June or so, and we have gotten a good deal of snow the past couple of months to bring the year to almost normal.

[lazy climber]

We have snow!!!! When are you planning your trip? Right now Hood and Shasta are in good shape and should be good thru June sometime. I usually stop climbing Hood by the first of June but the last couple of years we have been getting measurable snow into June. Hood may get another 6-12 inches of snow over then next couple of days.

Weather will not be stable till June/July so your ten day trip could have a lot of rain days. With the amount of snow we have and continue to get, barring any huge global warming event, the trail heads and even roads may not be open to the Sisters till mid June or later, last year the road to the west side of the Sisiters never did open and the road to Adams opened around the 4th of July as I remember.

One of the problems out here is that by the time the roads/TH are open in the Southern Cascades Shasta could be a rock pile (not much fun) and the Northern Cascades could stil be buried. The best weather will be late July into August but once again, the climbing on Shasta will be bad and may not be much snow in Oregon.

A couple of other options for the southern cascades would be Broken Top, Mt Washington and Three Finger Jack, all of these are "good" rock climbs/scrambles later in the season.

Depending on when you are coming out and your climbing skills you could scratch Shasta ( yes I know it is a 14er) and hit the hills in Oregon and then do Adams, which is an easy, non hazard climb from the south side, or go to the North Cascades and try Baker and /or Shuksan. Both of these do require glacier travel but are nice climbs depending on your skill.