A Close Call with Avalanche Gulch on Mt. Shasta (14,178')

Описание: Roughly three weeks ago, my good friend Connor and I gave it our all for a second time on Mt. Shasta and had a close call with weather and an avalanche. I share this story and video to promote a "know before you go" mentality regarding avalanche and general mountain safety.

At 12,400’ on Mt. Shasta's Avalanche Gulch, we were hit with an unforecasted storm that quickly rolled in. What started as a blue bird day ended in nightmare fuel. We narrowly escaped a wind slab avalanche that released only 600’ above where we had climbed, however, two other climbers were not so lucky as they were caught in it and swept down the mountain. Both survived thankfully, but needed SAR as they sustained injury; one a broken leg and bruised ribs and the other a knee sprain. Around the time of the avalanche, Connor and I had descended to 11,500’, where I had a foreboding feeling in my gut that an avalanche might sweep us away. Shortly after this feeling, I saw small snow clumps rolling down and heard indiscernible shouts from the shrouded snow slopes above…

The elusive summit of Mt. Shasta remains unclaimed for us both. Could ski touring this 50 Classic be our waterfall? Something we are chasing that is frivolous and we should caution against or not even attempt again? Should we just stick to mountaineering, something we’re used to? Or will our pursuit of this mountain deliver us to an actual, deeper meaning that is rewarding in the end and outweighs the inherent risk? Only time will tell.

For now, I am thankful we knew when to call off the summit push and that we made it off the peak safely. I think the Red Banks headwall only gets taller every time we do it. A third attempt for the summit will probably be made someday to figure out the above, so stay tuned for Part 3.