AOC-1
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2005
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We arrived in Oakland at 1 p.m. on Tuesday 6/21 and immediately set out for the village of Mt. Shasta, hoping to get supplied so we could sleep high at the North Gate trailhead (approx. 7500ft). But the Fifth Season, the only climbing store in town, closes at 6 p.m., five minutes before we pulled up to its doors. We spent the next few hours driving around town in fruitless search for fuel (all that was available were those giant green Coleman propane canisters), and getting our climbing permits and "blue bags" at the local ranger station. We spent the night at the local KOA campground ($18).
The next morning we bought supplies and made the long, slow drive on the rutted road to the North Gate trailhead, where we were greeted by a ranger who warned us about potential avalanche conditions high on the mountain. He reported 3 feet of snow had fallen near the summit several days earlier and that wind slab might be a problem in the Bolam Gully, a short stretch of the Hotlum-Bolam route at about 13,500. We thanked him for the information, and told him we would be cautious and belay any sections that looked sketchy. (We were bringing a rope and pickets anyway to do some crevasse rescue practice on the glaciers). Loaded down with about 50+ pounds of gear each, we set out for high camp at about 10,500 ft.
The trail was snow-free until about 8500ft., and was continuous snow above 9000. Two-foot high suncups made for slow progress above treeline as we headed up the ridge to camp on a nice gravel bench at 10,500. We located a sliver of glacier melt about 1/4 mile away from camp, and constructed a dam for our water supply. We were both feeling the altitude at this point and were glad to be done for the day. The route looked to be in good shape, with no hint of the bergshrund that always opens up on the western margin of the Hotlum glacier. We had the entire north side of the mountain to ourselves, and would for the next 2 days.
We awoke at 4 a.m. and were climbing by 5. The freezing level was low the night before, which made for perfect cramponing conditions all the way to the summit. We made good progress up the ridge to the ramp, but slowed down at about 13K when my partner started to really feel the altitude. (We had gone from sea level to 13 K in less than 24 hours.) I took some weight from his pack and he continued on. We reached the Bolam Gully at about 10 a.m. It looked to be in good shape, but we broke out the rope anyway just to be safe. I led up one full pitch, placing one picket along the way, and then brought up my partner on a body belay. After a few minutes, we detected the awful scent of the fumaroles, and it was not long before we reached the summit.
A large crowd of climbers from the south side soon joined us on top on a perfectly sunny day. These were the first persons we'd seen on the mountain. We downclimbed to about 12K and then glissaded the rest of the way down on fairly hard snow. We kept the picks of our ice axes buried in the slope to keep the glissade under control, reaching camp at about 1 p.m. We lounged around the rest of the day and practiced crevasse rescue the next mornining before packing out.
The noth side of the mountain is a great early to mid-season alternative to the crowds on the south side. Later in the season, the ramp section can get icy and dangerous, and the bergshrund can present problems as well.
The next morning we bought supplies and made the long, slow drive on the rutted road to the North Gate trailhead, where we were greeted by a ranger who warned us about potential avalanche conditions high on the mountain. He reported 3 feet of snow had fallen near the summit several days earlier and that wind slab might be a problem in the Bolam Gully, a short stretch of the Hotlum-Bolam route at about 13,500. We thanked him for the information, and told him we would be cautious and belay any sections that looked sketchy. (We were bringing a rope and pickets anyway to do some crevasse rescue practice on the glaciers). Loaded down with about 50+ pounds of gear each, we set out for high camp at about 10,500 ft.
The trail was snow-free until about 8500ft., and was continuous snow above 9000. Two-foot high suncups made for slow progress above treeline as we headed up the ridge to camp on a nice gravel bench at 10,500. We located a sliver of glacier melt about 1/4 mile away from camp, and constructed a dam for our water supply. We were both feeling the altitude at this point and were glad to be done for the day. The route looked to be in good shape, with no hint of the bergshrund that always opens up on the western margin of the Hotlum glacier. We had the entire north side of the mountain to ourselves, and would for the next 2 days.
We awoke at 4 a.m. and were climbing by 5. The freezing level was low the night before, which made for perfect cramponing conditions all the way to the summit. We made good progress up the ridge to the ramp, but slowed down at about 13K when my partner started to really feel the altitude. (We had gone from sea level to 13 K in less than 24 hours.) I took some weight from his pack and he continued on. We reached the Bolam Gully at about 10 a.m. It looked to be in good shape, but we broke out the rope anyway just to be safe. I led up one full pitch, placing one picket along the way, and then brought up my partner on a body belay. After a few minutes, we detected the awful scent of the fumaroles, and it was not long before we reached the summit.
A large crowd of climbers from the south side soon joined us on top on a perfectly sunny day. These were the first persons we'd seen on the mountain. We downclimbed to about 12K and then glissaded the rest of the way down on fairly hard snow. We kept the picks of our ice axes buried in the slope to keep the glissade under control, reaching camp at about 1 p.m. We lounged around the rest of the day and practiced crevasse rescue the next mornining before packing out.
The noth side of the mountain is a great early to mid-season alternative to the crowds on the south side. Later in the season, the ramp section can get icy and dangerous, and the bergshrund can present problems as well.
