Quick report
This weekend, Climbing Rangers were able to get eyes on majority of the terrain on the south side of Mount Shasta. Here are some condition updates:
Avalanche Gulch. Coverage continues to be phenomenal, with consistent snow from Bunny Flat all the way to the Summit Pinnacle. The Heart is slowly beginning to show more rock, seperating the standard route through the Red Banks and the alternative route underneath the Red Banks. The best route through the Red Banks is still the chutes on the viewers right side of the Heart. Rockfall is the primary hazard on the upper mountain. Blocks ranging from golfball to softball+ in size has been raining down into Avalanche Gulch. Sun cupped surfaces are starting to develop on terrain below 8,000 feet.
Hidden Valley Camp. Hidden Valley still has a ton of snow, but dry camp sites are popping up quick. If you spend a few minutes looking around, you can probably find one. Snow is continuous from Horse Camp to Hidden Valley, except for a few short 5-10 foot sections. From Hidden Valley, good coverage exists for access to the upper mountain routes.
Casaval Ridge. Casaval Ridge still has continuous snow coverage, and has been seeing decent climber traffic. As the warm and sunny days continue, this route will begin to degrade quick.
West Face. The West Face is still looking great and has been seeing tons of climbers and skiers. Climbers have been reporting the upper portion (above 12,000 feet) to be quite firm. With such good coverage, this route will hang in there for quite a bit longer.
For the most part, there have been very few signs of instability across the south side of Mount Shasta. On solar aspects, at the hottest part of the day, wet loose avalanches can be intitiated by skis, but these have been consisitently small. Cooler overnight temperatures have kept surfaces from getting too soft. The upper mountain has stayed quite firm through the weekend, presenting a greater hazard of falling than triggering an avalanche.Weather
- Air Temp
- Above freezing
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- N/A
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Today presented slightly cooler conditions than the previous days. Surfaces stayed firm later into the day before softening. Climbers reported moderate-strong winds above 12,000 feet. This is a change from the last few days, where strong-extreme winds prevented climbers from summiting. Skies remained clear through the day.