Shasta Summit Climb Report
by Girish Ramesh 08/13/2005

Climbing Mt.Shasta has been considered a great adventure and is a very harsh test of endurance that most people in good physical fitness have a modest chance of achieving. It is an ascent of over 7000 feet over rocks, snow, ice and loose gravel. Keeping this in mind I set myself the goal of achieving it over two days. The sheer size of the mountain with a volume of over 80 cubic miles, a 17 mile diameter base, and the fact that it rises more than 10,000 ft over the surrounding land is overawing. The mountain also creates its own weather pattern with notorious whiteouts, one happening just a week before our trip, which got me a bit worried. Only a third of the climbers attempting to summit ever make it to the top.

I first laid my eyes on Mt.Shasta when I drove from Portland to the Bay Area in June 2001, my first thoughts were “Wow what a big mountain!”, I remember taking a picture of the mountain. Never in my wildest dream did I ever imagine that I would be attempting to summit it 4 years thence. My friend Manu Sreenivasachar summited the mountain in a one day climb on July 4th weekend and encouraged me to give it a shot. I jumped into the first available opportunity when my buddy Pavan Singh mentioned a trip that he was planning to make. I rented some basic mountaineering equipment and bought the rest. I had never backpacked before and hence this trip was going to be an eye opener in many ways.

We started from Pavan’s house at 6:45 PM on Friday 8/12 at Mountain View. I waited as Pavan and Anil bid goodbyes to their respective spouses. I made a peace offering to the girls by giving them a bottle of wine for them to enjoy while me and their husbands set off on an adventure that turned out even more exciting than our expectations. The drive to Dunsmuir was uneventful.

We got up at 6:00AM on Saturday 8/13 and had breakfast before going to the Fifth Season Store to meet our instructor for a basic mountaineering class that would teach us self arrest, glissading and some climbing techniques. All the while I was making a mental note of Shasta’s presence. I was captivated by the Red Banks a jagged outcrop at around 12,800 feet. The chimneys as they are referred to is almost vertical, they reminded me of the column of pillars in the South Indian Hindu Temples. We parked our cars in Bunny Flat and set off on the popular trail to Horse Camp. At Horse Camp we got water to make it to high camp since we decided to melt snow for the climb. We had our instruction class on a snow strip just above Horse Camp. The instructor took leave of us and we started on our way up to Helen Lake which is a frozen lake. The first part of the trail was pretty gentle and the timberline was around 8500 feet and we entered the alpine area. The trail then got steep and we had to go through a section of rocks and the trail got even steeper and the path was full of small rocks, and one had to be very careful with 35 lb backpacks on our backs. We took a small 10 minute break once we climbed the hill. From here on it was a gentle upslope and we started seeing patches of snow and ice. After a while we encountered another steep section with some snow and ice, this hill led us to Lake Helen which was at 10,300 ft as per Anil’s altimeter. The time was 6:15 PM and we needed to set up camp, make food and then melt snow for water. I also laid my eyes on the 2000 foot high snow/ice slope that separated us from the base of the Red Bank Chimneys. The Avalanche Gulch Route that I had read about and seen pictures was in front of my eyes. I was amazed by the enormity of the mountain both in height and vastness. I enjoyed the sunset while making camp and preparing for food. I also talked to the Ranger and a fellow climber Billy from Sacramento about the various landmarks on the route, the turnaround points and discussed strategy so that I could do the route finding the next day. The camaraderie was unexpected, total strangers talking strategy. We had a tough evening and cooked food. Then Pavan, Anil and I set out to melt snow to make water. I cased out the snow field for a clean spot, took my ice axe and dug snow. Pavan helped me and to collect snow and helped Anil manage the stove. The whole process was so smooth and streamlined that I knew that of the three of us stuck together we would have a decent chance to summit, the co-ordination and teamwork made the fear of not having a guide with us fade away.

Sleep was light, it was very cold and there were some slight snow fall in the night. I was amazed to the sky without any optical pollution. I was able to see some of the constellations like Orion which can only be seen in the winter from the plains. I missed the meteor shower as I gave sleep and rest priority. We were set to go at 3:30 AM, we did a crampon check and last minute gear check. It was pitch dark and I felt as though I could touch the stars, the light from my headlamp seemed too faint. We started the uphill climb, I led the way as I had made mental notes the previous evening. We would keep climbing and then would correct our course if we came across any rocks which served as landmarks. We were soon joined by a group of people, a recent college grad from San Diego, a couple who were doing the climb for the first time. We kept going up and slowly music started playing in my head. The fifteen degree slope seemed to go on forever and we laboured on every step as the going started getting tough. The Indian classical music playing in my head with the sound of crampons crushing the snow and ice made a heady combination and seemed to egg me on to continue. Soon it seemed like daybreak, we had cleared a third of the height to Red Banks. At this time we decided to put our trekking poles inside and bring out the ice axe. We cut across an icy rock filled patch to make it to the right. From here was the twenty five degree slope. Every step we took seemed like forever, the altitude also started taking effect. The crampons made the whole process easier and I shuddered at the thought of not having those on. We used the edge step technique and kept going on, it looked like everyone was climbing in unison, a break for every ten steps. We kept going on seeing the red bank chimneys. It is in this region that Shasta shows its true self, the steep snow/ice uphill slope with 25% lesser Oxygen molecules than sea level. I saw many people simply give up and stop. This uphill is steep and needs both physical strength and resolve, my head was playing a 400 year old devotional song on Krishna by a blind poet and it was sung by one of the top exponents of North Indian Classical Music Pt.Jasraj. The altitude started taking effect and I could sense it around me. Further up were the chimneys and I saw people just sit down and take a break, many would turn back, and make an attempt at a later date if the first slope had not crushed their spirits entirely. The others would continue on to the 40 degree slope!. We took a short break and I put on blister guard, looked at my buddies, they seemed to be doing fine, it was a good sign as we were holding on together. I took a deep breath and started up, my mind automatically switched to a song that described the grandeur of Lord Vishnu, was the composer climbing a mountain in Himalayas? I wondered, for he was describing the power and aura of nature, I paced my steps with the song. I could feel myself jamming my ice axe in snow and ice, pulling myself up at the same time pushing my legs with the crampons. I repeated this process over and over again. I felt as though I was in a trance, was altitude playing mind games? Or was it sheer concentration? I was pushing myself higher and higher, I was digging deep within myself for the strength to summit, not tired, but with a smile on my face. Once I crossed this glacier I found myself before what is called Misery Hill. There was no snow, so I removed my crampons, put my ice axe in and took out the poles. I struggled a bit climbing Misery Hill till one of the guides accompanying a group told me to breathe heavily, once I did it I found my rhythm and proceeded on top to the summit plateau. It is a snow/ice field for about half a mile. We then took a break to make the final climb to the summit. We were tired, the air was very thin with only 40% lesser Oxygen than where I come from. I took a look around at Shastina, Whitney glacier and the Konwakiton glacier. I saw a bergshcrund and a huge crevasse. I saw the timberline appear like an ant, I saw the entire Southern Cascades, Mt.Lassen and miles of Oregon. We then climbed to the summit, those 500 ft, it felt like eternity. I finally made it up and then was amazed to see the blue sky, it seemed deeper blue than from below. I saw the surroundings and realized why my ancestors had held each mountain in the Himalayas in such reverence. I also thanked the mountain for letting me climb it and hoped that the descent would be incident free. I thought of all the mountaineers from Hillary, Tenzing, Buhl, Compagnoni, Messner who have climbed the mighty peaks in Himalayas, how did they feel to be at the pinnacle of those 8000m mountains? What went through Pearce, Whitney and Muir’s mind when they stood at the exact same spot a hundred years ago. I did not talk much, I was just reflecting and absorbing the moment. I then looked down and realized that I had finally done it. We took photos and I signed the summit book where I dedicated the climb to my parents and my brother, amongst friends this climb is for Manu, he introduced me to the love of mountains and rekindled my love for Western and Indian classical music.

It was the first mountain I have ever climbed, my hiking so far was limited to maximum of 4000 ft, so this was a major achievement for me. I am not a religious person at all, but the climb made me realize the sheer power of nature. I also understood that the splendor and glory of God that people sing about is an entity representing the force of nature. My life will be very different now as this experience showed me my insignificance in the grand scheme of things.

Trip Photos: Uploaded at 2 sites
http://pavanks.smugmug.com/gallery/735535/1/32346311

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