California's Mount Shasta is the second highest volcano in the Cascade Range and in the lower 48 United States. The permanently snow-capped cone dominates the skyline of southern Oregon and northern California for hundreds of miles in any direction. Shasta is in fact the most massive stratovolcano in the Cascade chain, rising almost 12000 ft from the surrounding lowlands and easily surpassing in volume the slightly taller Mount Rainier. However, its southerly location results in lower snowfall and less glaciation than the northern peaks of the Cascade Range. Nevertheless, Shasta supports eight glaciers including the largest in California, and the deep winter snowpack provides good skiing well into the summer. Avalanche Gulch on the south side is the standard climbing route to the summit, providing a continuous crevasse-free ski run of over 7000 vertical feet.

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Trip Summary: Saturday-Sunday, June 19-20, 1999

This was a private trip, with a party of two (myself and Alex Cronin).
I skied on randonnee (alpine touring) gear, Alex skied on heavy-duty telemark gear.