Best American Adventures: Ski Mountaineer Mount Shasta

 

We've just updated our popular America's Best Adventures feature with 50 new trips, bringing our grand total to 100 iconic escapes (see the map, state-by-state list, and photo gallery, too). So no matter what your pleasure—hiking, heli-skiing, surfing, climbing, biking, or paddling—we've got the perfect adventure for you. Check in each day for a new, out-the-backdoor adventure highlighted here on our blog.

By Kate Siber; Photograph by Chris Carr, Shasta Mountain Guides

Mount Shasta is one of the largest Cascade volcanoes by volume, but think of it as a gentle giant. This 14,163-foot (4,317-meter) volcano that towers over northern California is a veritable utopia for mountaineers: It’s gifted with spectacular vertical relief, relatively mild terrain, and reliably sunny weather that makes for prime climbing conditions. “There are few places in the world where you have that much vertical without the objective hazards,” says Chris Carr, director of Shasta Mountain Guides.

From a base camp above 8,000 feet (2,438 meters), the outfitter offers three-day courses that teach novices the basics of ski or snowboard mountaineering, such as how to use ski crampons, climb with skins, and self-arrest. Day three is when they put it all together for a summit bid: Students rise at 2 or 3 a.m. and zigzag 5,000 vertical feet (1,524 meters) up to the peak, a jumble of boulders big enough for multiple people to scramble on top to take in the views, which stretch as far as 125 miles (200 kilometers). The reward is one of the longest continuous ski descents in the Lower 48: Through some of the nation’s best corn snow, you’ll turn 7,000 vertical feet (2,134 meters) down a consistent 35- or 45-degree slope all the way to the trailhead.

Need to Know: Join Shasta Mountain Guides (www.shastaguides.com) on a prescheduled trip, starting at $595, from May through June.

Comments

[make your own rap beats online]

My God, it's so beautiful and yet we know however beautiful Alaska is, it's still risky. What with avalanches that's happening.

[tribute-credit-card]

I appreciate mountaineer so much. I'm afraid of heights. So envious.

[JackStraw]

If you are in good shape, you can hike to the top of Mt Shasta no problem. Just like Kilimanjaro, its just a very long walk at high elevations. Just take your time cause the air is thinner and you'll make it.