Mount Shasta

I've always wanted to ski Mount Shasta. It's a long way from San Diego, but it like the Grand Tetons, a huge mountain scarp jutting up from a lower elevation plain. It's huge, and towers almost 10,000 feet above the small towns surrounding it. It's really a part of the Cascade Range , not the Sierra. When the ski section offered this trip, how could I refuse? It always is easier to do something new with people who have been there.

The way group ski trips work is a plan made months in advance. The weather can be good or bad, but airline tickets are purchased ahead of time and housing booked. I don't like being confined with a group much, so I opted for driving up in my camper. Since I bought a pair of skis online from a guy in Bishop, the planned route was going to be 395 to 44 to 89. I would mount the "new" skis in Bishop, then get an early day at Mammoth and continue on.

Arrived at the Lone Pine Visitor Center and tried to take a nap. Some inner city field trip parked next door and I was fading in and out with the interruptions. Was glad when they left, but then discovered a note on my truck telling me that the back camper lights were on and "Have a blessed day". Wow, better watch my karma or I'll be a grumpy old man.

The weather report looked dismal, but what the heck, I've got 4WD and I wanted to ski those light skis with some AT binders. Picked up the Goode skis at a residence that had a perfect view of Mount Tom, covered in snow.

As I was almost frantically mounting the bindings in the park parking lot at Bishop, I noticed two things. First, I had chosen an area that seemed to be frequented by teens and early 20's males on the hunt for Friday's fuel for party. Hope the cops don't think I'm dealing. Second, it was getting very cold in a hurry.



The Pleasant Valley campground is close to Bishop and is cheap. As the night progressed, the wind started moving the camper on the gusts. This is not good.

The day dawned with storm clouds and rain. Going up Sherwin Grade, it began to snow in earnest. By Mammoth, any hopes of skiing there or June were out. The snow was blowing sideways at something over 40 MPH. Not seeing too many pilgrims on this road. Thinking maybe I should reinforce my already flaky reputation by taking the prudent course and turning tail back to San Diego. But then started thinking that I wanted to ski with Afra and Dave, who had done Janet Peak with me and didn't want to let them down. It would later turn out that this was wasted altruism. Well, not completely altruism because I am 66 and how many more chances at Shasta am I going to get?

I have some experience with driving in snowy conditions. The main concept is to almost never use the brakes. The Dodge diesel makes this job easier, but the rig weighs over 10,500 pounds. Trying to anticipate things ahead and pretty focused on the bad weather and wondering if this is a bad decision. There are quite a few small towns as one gets to the East of Tahoe, slowing down the progress. But the scenery is really great and the snow makes everything look magical. I'm pretty well shot by the time I get to Honey Lake, just before Susanville. After an aborted run looking for a free campground up to where the dirt road got very bad, and then the hejira ended with a road closed sign. Elected to get off the road a bit at the Honey Lake RV place. It was $16 without hookups, nice people and a great view. I'm dry camping in the RV because water in the holding tanks would be a disaster. It's in the 20's and our handy film strip LP gas reader doesn't work like in the desert. Elect not to run the heater, want to have a way to cook.


I sleep like the dead and wake up and it's still blowing, but not snowing like last night. My portable radio gets a station in Susanville and they are talking chains and ice in town. It is 28 at 7, and 29 at 8. The weather forecast is for snow at 11, so the plan is to leave at 9, to maximize my chance of the ice being gone and still have time for the toughest part of the trip, highway 44, before the snow starts in earnest. Also, there is the sad news that climbers got caught in the storm on Sunday and one has died. The recovery helo can't get off today because of bad weather. I am no longer thinking about skiing, just want to get the truck back in one piece.

Briefly on highway 36, then at the beginning of 44 there is a sign saying "Speed Limit 35 MPH, chains required". Since I had screwed my back up checking the water level in the camper battery for the first time, I hadn't practiced putting these particular chains on the truck. What the heck, I'm not turning back at this point. Slow down to 45 and proceed. The road is in bad shape, lots of patches of snow and snow and ice. Had read the owners manual last night on 4WD and am able to put it in and out of real 4WD while going at any speed. This really is a good rig in bad conditions.

It is very exciting and beautiful. The trees are flocked with snow and everything looks fresh and free of the usual desecrations of man. I'm actually starting to enjoy this. Going in and out of 4WD and using the gears to slow down when necessary. No problema!

It's kind of anticlimactic to get to highway 89, which is more heavily used road. The road is mostly just wet with occasional patches of snow on dark curves. It does start snowing at 11, but no big deal. I'm turning into the Mount Shasta Ski Park by noon. It is Wednesday, so seniors get the $15 ski deal. It's kind of like Big Bear, only there are only twenty cars in the parking lot. I get used to the skis and bindings and am a happy camper.



Mount Shasta, the town, is a sleepy new age spot with a number of inns, restaurants and tourist shops. I get some propane and find out there were two gallons left, so I could have run the heater last night. Find our little 100 year old house above the Radio Shack storefront. It it very nice and there is a good parking spot behind the property. The rental is filled with little notes to remind the the user of his responsibilities and potential hazards that lurk in this abode to the ignorant and stupid. The owners have definitely been there done that and are prepared for the worst.

It has a great view of the tattoo parlor and liquor store. I am happy to walk around in a regular house, drink tea and read "The Future of Freedon" by Fareed Zakaria. His central focus is an analysis of those critical components of viable and long lasting democracies. He points out that the mere pretense of elections is a necessary but not sufficient condition for one that is viable. For instance, Hitler was elected in a supposed democracy. Fear has a funny way of making people give up their freedoms to get the trains to run on time.


The group is a strong one. Patty, who arranged the trip, is of Norweigen descent and is both pleasant and at the same time tough as nails. She has skis that are kind of skinny, but she always gets to the high point. Dan has literally written a book on skiing SoCal and is great company, with a dry humor that is not to be missed. Big Mike has taught more people to ski than anyone else in San Diego and is very competent and knowledgeable. Dave is both a skier and a dancer and kind of merges the two disciplines in the backcountry. All these people are always ready, on time, packed and ready to ski. I'm fortunate to have them as friends. We added two new friends, Myrek and Ann. Myrek escaped from Checkoslovakia, just before the Russian crackdown. He has great stories, is very generous and has a powerful athleticism about him. Ann is great to be around.

The lockbox had the wrong combo on the info sheet. I had worked out the problem with the landlord but had to wait for the others to arrive so the info could be passed on. By the time they arrived (without my friend Afra), I decided that it was way too crowded and elected to retreat to my Lance Camper cell.

At 0800 we are sort of prepared to go. We go up in the rented van and the day looks pristine. The mountain has a good road up to Bunny Flats at 6900 feet. There is a restroom and a large parking lot, where I will park my camper next time. The view is spectacular right out of the car.



The new AT setup and the light carbon fiber skis are working great, using some narrow skins (synthetic pile with adhesive on one side) to get a little glide going uphill. I have some wider skins for when the climb stiffens up. I am not worried about avalanches down here in the lower reaches because the snow looks pretty consolidated, but he headwall that Avalanche Gulch approaches gives me that old fear response. It has been snowing for four days and now its warm.



We get to about the Sierra Club cabin. Dan and I wait for the others. The whomp whomp whomp of the recovery helo is the only sound in the wilderness. It sounds like a military exhaust but probably is a big Bell high altitude helo. After a beacon exercise, the others head up canyon and I stay behind to do some terrain further down. It is pretty crowded compared to somewhere like San Jacinto or San Gorgonio because most of the terrain has been stripped of trees from previous avalanches. You can see people camped on ridgetops, skiing with dogs and generally having a great time.



By the time the others return, it is time to head back to the car. The gulley we ascended looks like a half pipe and I go from side to side, gaining momentum and at one point shouting "hully gully". It is great fun, but I'm back to the car too soon. What a great place to come and play.

The next morning, no one wants to ski so, I head back on highway 5. It's snowing pretty hard in town and on the highway, for about an hour or two. Thirteen and a half hours and I'm back home, with a one hour nap in the middle of the trip. Mission accomplished, the hard way. Next time it is going to be highway 5 to the parking lot at Bunny Flat.