Lassen / Shasta Conditions Anyone?

[jibmaster]

Camping in the parking lot at Lassen is a rite of passage for any backcountry skier.
Heated bathrooms and snow camping - you can't go wrong.
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_...sen&view_all=1

[SierraSnowSurfer]

Does anyone know if sleeping overnight in the Lassen TH Parking lot is permitted? Never been up there before and the whole national park thing makes me think it might be an issue.
Thanks!

Parking in any Lassen VNP lot overnight is permitted. You will have to pay the usual entrance fee, but a fair amount of people do it. Don't sleep in the Sulphur Works lot as you will get a splitting headache from the sulphur.

[SierraSnowSurfer]

To end my trip I wanted to try the Hotlum Wintun ridge. Made my way over to the end of the road on Saturday and set off Sunday morning. I had planned on starting really early, maybe 3:00ish but ended up talking to a guy who had summited that day and he said a 5:00 start would be fine. I consider myself a morning person but I’ve had a hard time waking up on time lately. Caught an amazing sunrise and I hit the trail at 6:06.

I shot straight up the drainage I was parked infront of and hit the true trailhead in 15 minutes, 1/3 of a mile hike from the car. Soon thereafter I hit snow, 7.5k feet, and was pleased to find a great lower elevation refreeze. Suncups were major so I kept the sneakers on and felt like I pretty much flew to 9k getting there around 7:40.

Snow was softening slightly so I switched to ski boots and started to boot pack. From here on up the snow was textured but not what I would call suncups. Boot pack was nice and easy with just enough toe dig to avoid cramps. Switched to skinning at 10k and made it to 11.3k before I opted for the crampons and switched back to booting.

I hit the lunch rock crossover just after 12:20 and took a nice break. Made some friends and enjoyed the views before discussing 4th of July plans. The longer I sat the more I started to catch the lazy bug and decided to get going sometime after 1:00.

The final push honestly felt like the easiest part of the hike as far as set footing goes. Followed a great boot pack all the way to the top. Got there around 2:40. Great hike, great views and met some great people at the top. No wind at all, the most pleasant summit experience I’ve had yet. I waited for some of the guys I met to make their way up and then dropped with them at 3:30. From what I could tell we were the last group to leave the summit. Didn’t see anyone down below heading up still.

As Dark Energy mentioned earlier the first 1.2k was real sketchy. I was very happy to have some folks around me, just to play it safe. Some sort of odd hollow refrozen chunder that was not something I ever hope to encounter again. After that it was totally different. Had some great turns high on the Wintun while admiring the opening crevasses below. I made the crossover around 12k and enjoyed the rest of the late day sun baked snow. Not too soft, perfect ripping surface down to 8.5k. The suncups and runnels below that were some of the gnarliest I’ve skied. Not overly fun for tired legs but hopping the runnels was entertaining.

Back in Reno now and I’m already planning to get back out in two or three weeks. I’m itching for some glacier exploration. Just need to find a partner for that.

You weren't able to park at the TH, correct? I was thinking about heading up for the HW route, but am hoping for some road beta.

[Paul Blart]

You weren't able to park at the TH, correct? I was thinking about heading up for the HW route, but am hoping for some road beta.

Correct, that being said I didn’t push it as far as I could’ve. Some folks took on the big snow bank and got up just below the final turn to the trailhead. I have to imagine by this weekend everyone will be able to make it within a quarter mile of the TH if not closer.

[kimchijajonshim]

Hit the SE face of Lassen on July 4th. Got some follow-up beta of pretty much identical conditions as of 7/7.

I wouldn't bother unless you're already in the area or a turns-all-year type. Not unrideable, but not worth the effort IMO. Sun cups and runnels. About 2k vert back to the parking lot, upper third wasn't bad, middle third was hit-or-miss with some nice turns, and bottom third was pretty rough. Pretty much continuous coverage back to the car, but had to unstrap my board a few times due to dirt patches at the bottom. If I was on skis, I think I could have gotten back to the car without booting on a few lower traverses.

No touring. Hiked all the way up just short of the peak from the parking lot with my splitboard + boots a-carried on pack. Did it in trail runners and felt fine with good footwear and poles.

I've spent better part of the past couple months at sea level so the hike was rough for me (really, really glad I didn't* try pushing it in the Eastern Sierras this weekend, would not have survived at 11k+).

I wouldn't bother unless you're up in the area already. I had my backpacking gear on me, so immediately transitioned onto summer trails. It was perfect half-day as a bonus to a summer backpacking-focused trip, but would not have gone out of my way just for the snow.

[Paul Blart]

Anyone have an educated guess at what aspect is currently holding the least textured snow (on Shasta)? I would imagine there has to be a few thousand feet of decent skiing out there?

[jimw]

Was out there last Sunday 7/7. I couldn't believe how much the snow had deteriorated since my previous trip a few weeks before; on that trip we rode the west face and were able to ride to within like 50 feet of the parking lot, with maybe a couple short 100 ft unstrap/walk sections. It was awesome smooth corn pretty much the whole way. Now it's totally dry at the parking lot, and the suncups are pretty big in the lower elevation snow.

Anyway one of the main reasons I went back was because on the previous trip I discovered there was an awesome pond skim forming at the top of the west face. Gotta be one of the highest pond skims around at ~13.2k. So I had delusions of a Shasta Trifecta - pond skim that thing, shred the west face, then get someone to drive my van back to town while I mountain bike the Entertainer back to town.

Well, it was a nice thought.

I figured with it being the weekend of the 4th that it was gonna be a zoo up there. For whatever reason it wasn't too bad. Maybe most people had already left? Maybe it was my sub-alpine start at 6:30 AM? Dunno. But it was nice to not be around the hordes. It was dry hiking almost all the way from the lot to horse camp, with the snow level right about at the shelter. Here's what it looked like from the window in the shelter:



Saw maybe 4 people milling around there, then didn't see a single person for the next several hours. Not one person descending the west face. WTF? Climbed up via hidden valley and directly up the west face. Here's the view from hidden valley. Suncups smoothed out around 10k. Snow was good above that.



Bummer #1 was that naturally the clouds decided to come in right before I topped out on the west face. One minute I was seeing this:



Then it was this:





I could tell things were swirling around and eventually there would be a window so I continued to the top of the west face. Whereupon I was greeted with Bummer #2 - the pond was half frozen, and/or slush. Not ideal pond skimming conditions! Bummer to climb 6.5k to find that out. It really is a perfect setup with a great run-in. Probably 60-ish feet across long-ways.



Got a window and dropped in on one of the short chute-like entrances to riders right. Pretty good snow. Cool cloud formations and lighting from storms off in the distance.





Around 10k I climbed up onto the ridge. About this time I saw the first people I had seen in hours. I heard some voices from down around hidden valley, and sure enough zooming in with the camera it looked like a bunch of people camped over there. Wonder where they were all day.



I dropped the other side of the ridge down towards horse camp and the main avy gulch route, where the snow kinda sucked. At least it was soft.

On the exit there was still a tongue of snow that could be sorta ridden for a while, cutting out about half the dry hiking from horse camp. As much as I hate to admit it, I guess Schraph was right about this:

The good news is that the massive Avy Gulch slide from Feb will keep the ski exit from CG or AG properly filled and skiable almost all the way to the TH pretty late into the season, I would estimate you’ll be able to ski to the car through 4th of July and just a short walk through late July based on the slide debris having run so far past Sierra Horse Camp.

By this time a lot of that tongue was melting out so some of the broken tree debris were showing up. Pretty impressive.



Photo later around sunset showing most of the west face route:



By the time I got out I was no longer motivated to bike. So the trifecta turned out to be a mono-fecta. Next year!

[Paul Blart]

Nice jimw! West face was the main route I was thinking about. That pond skim looks like a lot of fun.

[Mokomahonah]

Got some great turns in LNP yesterday. Some crust and roller balls on solar aspects.

Picture: N. side of Brokeoff.

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[frorider]

Last min decision to drive north tonight and ski Mt Shasta Ski Park area Sunday on way to Bend, maybe explore the sidecountry there a bit. I gather Red Butte is pretty accessible? My Shasta experiences have always been June ski tour to summit, nothing in this S zone.

[NorCalNomad]

Wouldn't get your expectations high. The pictures that the Shasta Avy center have recently posted on their instagram look more like late spring/ summer Shasta.

[hoarhey]

Maybe Memorial Day out of brewer?


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[Lee Murian]

Just an FYI to all you dentists. Due to excessive visitor traffic at the trailhead, Siskiyou Co is closing the Everett Highway access to Bunny Flat. It's still 15+ miles to Brewer Creek. Please shelter in place until we can get through this. Peace y'all.

[Dantheman]

What's your source on that, Lee? The old man said he was up there this morning.

[gimpy]

lee murian ...... still my favorite handle on this board++++
hope shit gets sorted out in time to visit the vortex before access melts out

[Lee Murian]

What's your source on that, Lee? The old man said he was up there this morning.

I've been in discussion with the Lead Climbing Ranger, District Ranger, and rep on our County Board of Supervisors. On Friday, the climbing rangers were telling people at Bunny Flat this was expected. This is a county road and is a major income stream for town/county. This is not a decision they take lightly and have been very adamant about leaving the road open. Unfortunately, every day brings more people, campers, van lifers, rv's, snowmobiles, etc. crowding the trailhead. There have been regular meetings about this issue and after complaints and recognizing the inability to manage the crowds/use/impact and protect their employees they are making the difficult decision to close the road and remove the attraction to visitors.

I expect a public announcement today, unless something changed yesterday, but from what I observed that seems unlikely. This is a decision at the county level, so once restrictions are lifted, I expect the road to reopen right away.

To be clear, the gate is still currently open. (4/12/20 6:00am) I just didn't want any surprises if you're thinking of sneaking up here for some spring skiing and find limited access...

[Lee Murian]

Monday morning update. Road is to remain open. After a pretty mellow Easter weekend, I think the recommendation will be to leave the road access. Good news for Mt. Shasta.

I didn't mean to jump the gun, but I don't want to see the Everett suffer the same fate as other overpopulated destinations in the current pandemic.

[hutash]

Anybody have any pics of current coverage? I just want to dream of future trips when we are set free of this scourge.

[snapt]

Just an FYI to all you dentists. Due to excessive visitor traffic at the trailhead, Siskiyou Co is closing the Everett Highway access to Bunny Flat. It's still 15+ miles to Brewer Creek. Please shelter in place until we can get through this. Peace y'all.

Snapt senior lives in Mt Shasta and has been a bit fired up about all the out of town/state folks sheltering at bunny flat. Sounds like it needs to be done unfortunately. Hope y'all are back on the hill in good health in short order Lee.

[gimpy]

i get why they are keeping everett open, but i really feel for the rangers who have to still clean the bathrooms at bf. i hope they close them if they are not already and keep the poop bag station open only. i think the solution for this time is to keep the highway open but shut down bunny flat parking lot from 8pm to 4am everyday. that would eliminate the campers and would basically just be open for day trippers only. i can think of quite a few positive results from doing this and no negatives. enlighten me why this would be a bad idea?

[Lee Murian]

hutash we are about 50% of average snowpack this year. It's going to be a short season. I expect we'll see some more precip in April/May and even June but it will go quick. Here's a nice view from the super moon for your troubles

Snapt senior lives in Mt Shasta and has been a bit fired up about all the out of town/state folks sheltering at bunny flat. Sounds like it needs to be done unfortunately. Hope y'all are back on the hill in good health in short order Lee.

Thanks man, another mag dad in MS! If you're ever in town for a visit, let me know. I was pretty fired up too, but it seems a little better at least for now. Pretty quiet yesterday but the bootpacking snowboarder who was just in Baker, Bachelor, Tahoe, Bay Area was a little annoying with his sketchy dog at the trailhead...

i get why they are keeping everett open, but i really feel for the rangers who have to still clean the bathrooms at bf. i hope they close them if they are not already and keep the poop bag station open only. i think the solution for this time is to keep the highway open but shut down bunny flat parking lot from 8pm to 4am everyday. that would eliminate the campers and would basically just be open for day trippers only. i can think of quite a few positive results from doing this and no negatives. enlighten me why this would be a bad idea?

I think the main reason for wanting the closure was to protect the USFS employees/rangers from exposure to the masses. Apparently they are cleaning the bathrooms 2x week. I totally agree to close Bunny to overnight campers, that has been a recommended solution that many agree with. Classic land manager response they don't have the money/resources to enforce this. Pre-covid this has been an ongoing issue with overcrowding/multi use at the trailhead. Between the entitled campers and sled necks rolling in with covered trailers hauling a dozen sleds, I don't think Bunny has the capacity to handle the use we're seeing without proper management. PS, glad you like the handle, seemed appropriate

[snapt]

Thanks man, another mag dad in MS! If you're ever in town for a visit, let me know.

Was supposed to be there next week after the Oakland Pearl Jam shows, huge bummer. Likewise if ever in the Tetons.

[hutash]

Cool photo, thanks for the update. We will just have to wait and see if the snow pack outlasts the virus.

[~mikey b]

Shasta closed above 10,000'

[ShakeMeUp]