Climbing
Trip Report
This post was written by Jenna Kane of Shasta Mountain Guides on October 3rd, 2019.
As the 2019 Mt. Shasta climbing season comes to an end, we at Shasta Mountain Guides are feeling extremely grateful; to our guides for leading safe and successful adventures and our guests for choosing SMG. This year has felt almost utopian for us mountain-lovers. Mt. Shasta locals and visitors are pinching themselves after a banner year of weather and smoke-free air. To top off the beautiful and warm but not-too-hot summer, rain has graced our dry soils and the mountain has an early dusting of snow.
The latter part of the season saw multiple skills-focused glacier courses and many successful summit trips. Our Glacier I Seminar has become our most popular course, this 4 day trip is a perfect introduction to mountaineering and enjoys a long season from June-September.
Late season can still have good climbing on the Hotlum-Bolam route. Even after a big snow year, by late September the routes are icy with extreme sun-cups and difficult travel. For these reasons, we cease leading summit climbs until more favorable conditions.
Our final glacier seminar led by Justin and Jamie was a great success with new skills learned and partnerships formed.
From one of the climbers on the expedition:
“Justin and Jamie both showed exceptional skills, and made the trip even more fun with how they presented themselves, joked around, serious, empathetic, and listened. I came in to this trip with expectations, rather high due to the amount of money I was spending, and I was not let down. In fact, my expectations were blown away. The food was amazing and the camaraderie I felt from my fantastic group and our amazing guides was top notch…”
We were fortunate to have Marcus Moore along who shared with us these great images from the climb. Thank you! Check out: @marcomoore/instagram
Our final group ascended the Clear Creek route last weekend, setting a boot-pack through fresh snow all the way up to the summit pinnacle. What a finale to a great season!
As the 2019 season comes to an end we are already looking towards next year, and have begun to update our calendar for 2020 dates and courses. Please be in touch with any questions at all, and feel free to follow along with our winter adventures on our Instagram and Facebook.
Thank you all for climbing with Shasta Mountain Guides this season. Fingers crossed for plentiful snow this winter and we’ll see you in 2020!
