{"id":5385,"date":"2020-02-23T19:21:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T02:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northerncaliforniahikingtrails.com\/blog\/?p=5385"},"modified":"2025-03-17T15:26:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T22:26:39","slug":"climbing-mount-shasta-old-ski-bowl-avalanche-gulch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northerncaliforniahikingtrails.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/23\/climbing-mount-shasta-old-ski-bowl-avalanche-gulch\/","title":{"rendered":"Climbing Mount Shasta Via Old Ski Bowl, Green Butte, and Avalanche Gulch: My Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sweaty story of the first time I climbed Mount Shasta, not the usual way from Bunny Flat, but via the Old Ski Bowl and Green Butte.<\/p>\n

\"View
View from the trailhead of the Old Ski Bowl Trail. Green Butte is just out of site to the left, with Avalanche Gulch beyond the ridge on the left.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I Wrote This Shasta Summit Article for Outdoor Adventure<\/em><\/h2>\n

This is an article I wrote in 1998 for the magazine Outdoor Adventure<\/em> (sadly, no longer in existence) about my summit climb of Mount Shasta from the Old Ski Bowl to Green Butte and then on to Helen Lake and up Avalanche Gulch. It was one of the last magazine pieces I wrote. (I also wrote for VIA<\/em> [then Motorland<\/em>] and Sunset<\/em>, plus other magazines and newspapers.) I’ve made a few minor edits and also added headers.<\/p>\n

Important Safety Note About The Old Ski Bowl to Avalanche Gulch Shasta Summit Climb<\/h2>\n

Back when I did this hike, the stretch of Everitt Memorial Highway from Bunny Flat to the Old Ski Bowl parking lot was plowed earlier in the climbing season. However, now the Forest Service intentionally waits to plow this section so that fragile Panther Meadows below the Old Ski Bowl gets fewer visitors.<\/p>\n

The Safety Problem with the Old Ski Bowl\/Green Butte Route…<\/h4>\n

Is this: by the time you can drive to the Old Ski Bowl and climb above Green Butte to Avalanche Gulch and Helen Lake, much of the snow has melted along the Avalanche Gulch climbing route itself, increasing the danger of rock fall and injury.<\/p>\n

Therefore, you should not attempt to do the route I describe here! It is usually not safe enough.<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"100The Safe Route: Avalanche Gulch From Bunny Flat<\/h3>\n

At the right time of year! Contact the Mount Shasta Ranger Station<\/a> for current conditions and safety considerations, and also check the Shasta Avalanche Center site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hike 44 “Mount Shasta Summit via Avalanche Gulch” in my guidebook 100 Classic Hikes: Northern California<\/em><\/a> has a detailed description of this main route from Avalanche Gulch to Mount Shasta summit, beginning at at Bunny Flat.<\/p>\n

Consider Climbing with a Guide Service<\/h3>\n

I highly recommend Shasta Mountain Guides<\/a>. I’ve known the owners for years, along with several of their guides.<\/p>\n

Another good option: SWS Mountain Guides<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Climbing Mount Shasta Via Old Ski Bowl, Green Butte, and Avalanche Gulch: My Story<\/h2>\n

While sweltering in the 100-degree furnace of a Sacramento Valley heat wave, I looked north at Mount Shasta, the 14,179-foot behemoth volcano with the eternal cool summit of snow. Since I was a young boy Mount Shasta had beckoned to me from the northern horizon of my home town of Redding, California; now I knew it offered the ideal escape from low-land thermal oppression.<\/p>\n

I, my sister-in-law Patty, and our good friend Jan swore a solemn Three Musketeers pact to reach the top of the lofty peak, and with high spirits fueled by an overdose of unfounded optimism regarding the difficulty of the task, we set out early one afternoon up I-5 for the town of Mount Shasta. There we rented ice axes and crampons from the knowledgeable folks at The Fifth Season<\/a>, who provided us with the latest weather report (thankfully favorable) and plenty of pertinent advice for managing our mountain assault.<\/p>\n

Mount Shasta’s Old Ski Bowl: Our Starting Point for Avalanche Gulch Route (but see safety note above)<\/h2>\n

We drove up Everitt Memorial Highway to cooler climes on Mount Shasta\u2019s lower slopes, home to a forest of stately firs and pines. At the Old Ski Bowl parking lot at the end of the road we struggled into hefty boots, slathered on sunblock, strapped on backpacks, then took the trail up through the loose volcanic sand. [This trail is Hike 45 “Old Ski Bowl to Green Butte” in my guidebook Day Hiking: Mount Shasta, Lassen, & Trinity Alps Regions<\/em><\/a>.]<\/p>\n

We\u2019d chosen this route from the Old Ski Bowl because it started 900 feet higher than the more popular launching pad at Bunny Flat, leaving us only 6,400 vertical feet from Shasta’s summit. As we headed up the steep path above timber line, I pondered the mystique of Mount Shasta, an irresistible magnet for mountain lovers, but also a strong attractant for spiritual seekers who come in search of Lemurians, Saint Germaine, and other unorthodox religious experiences.<\/p>\n

The peak definitely packs power. It may grudgingly tolerate most hikers on its slopes, but with a small shrug of one shoulder it sent a massive avalanche to destroy the ski lift in 1978, shutting the ski bowl forever\u2014a definite sign of disapproval for development on its sacred personage.<\/p>\n

From the Old Ski Bowl Past Green Butte<\/h2>\n

I kept a watchful eye for falling rock from the sharp slant of Green Butte as we slowly passed just below it, my thighs burning and my lungs cycling rapidly in the thin air. As the reality of the effort before us began to reach the rational though pitifully small part of what passes for my brain, I looked across at Sargent\u2019s Ridge and imagined grueling forced marches endured by boot camp inductees. \u201cYou want to do this,\u201d I kept reminding myself. \u201cThink of the views, think of the glory, think of the stories. Ah, forget that\u2014think about the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Green
Green Butte is part of a ridge on the west side of Mount Shasta’s Old Ski Bowl.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At increasingly small intervals we\u2019d stop to rest, turning our gazes away from rock, ridge, snow, and glacier to survey the vast expanse of forest and peak that swept south, west, and east to far haze. With fresh inspiration, we\u2019d continue the upward push.<\/p>\n

Spending the Night at Helen Lake in Avalanche Gulch<\/h2>\n

In the late afternoon we crested the ridge above Green Butte and looked up and across Avalanche Gulch. Somewhere above us was our first-day destination, a flat snow-field laughingly called Helen Lake, even though it’s really just a mostly level place for people to camp before pushing on to Mount Shasta’s summit the next day.<\/p>\n

We decided against crampons when we reached snow line just below Helen Lake, opting to slop through snow soft from a long day of sun. Thankful to have won 2,600 feet of elevation, we shed our packs and set about making camp amidst 25 or 30 other climbers.<\/p>\n

As we settled among our neighbors to a dinner of cheese, bread, and dried fruit, we talked the talk of adventurers well-met, a conversation consisting of phrases spoken in similar situations for millennia: \u201cHi, my name\u2019s John.\u201d \u201cWhere ya from?\u201d \u201cEver climb the mountain before?\u201d<\/p>\n

As evening turned to dusk we watched as the setting sun gild the mountains to the south, then turned the few interlaced strands of cirrostratus an achingly brief shade of pink before releasing our part of the world to the cloak of night.<\/p>\n

The three of us soon realized our two-person tent was, in fact, a two-person tent. Quickly assessed the power hierarchy, I \u201cvolunteered\u201d to sleep on a tarp beside the tent.<\/p>\n

As the temperature reached the unpopular side of the freezing mark, I huddled in my clothes inside my 20-degree bag, cursing the manufacturers who could legally get away with such a bold-faced lie of a rating. I eventually rolled over on my back, deciding that if the cold was going to keep me awake, I\u2019d at least have the universe for company.<\/p>\n

And what a universe. At 10,400 feet\u2014with nary a moon sliver or even the smallest veil of haze between me and the infinite\u2014the Milky Way stretched in thick clots<\/a> dotted with innumerable pinpricks of light from Cassiopeia through Cygnus and the Summer Triangle down to Sagittarius, home of the center of the galaxy and the densest regions of stars.<\/p>\n

Peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower<\/h2>\n

It took less than a minute for the first shooting star to streak across the heavens, briefly rivaling the star Vega as the brightest object in the sky. And then the meteors came even more frequently, varying in brightness, speed, and direction. Some died before reaching the far southern horizon; others abruptly disappeared behind Shasta\u2019s immense bulk. The natural fireworks of the peak of the Perseid meteor shower cascaded through the Earth\u2019s atmosphere, an ephemeral display of light that made an exquisite counterpoint to the steadiness of the far stars.<\/p>\n

It was a rare experience, one that would make any life worth living. I did eventually doze off for brief, chilled periods, but would soon wake and again enter the larger universe.<\/p>\n

Day 2: Climbing Up Avalanche Gulch to Mount Shasta’s Summit<\/h2>\n

Around 2:00 a.m. a waning half moon washed the sky with pale, silky light, and at 4:00 a.m. we were up well before the sun. We munched granola as we loaded up the day packs and struggled with rapidly freezing fingers to attach crampons to boots, a process that would have been quicker if we\u2019d bothered to practice the day before, or any time during our lives.<\/p>\n

After congratulating ourselves for barely missing the ignominious distinction of being the last group out of camp, we began the long climb in the spreading dawn. I was now thankful for the cold; it meant my crampons had perfect traction in the frozen snow.<\/p>\n

I soon settled into a rhythm as I climbed up the steep slope: Take 100 steady and slow steps, using the ice ax for bite and balance, then stop for a short breather to look at the scenery and perhaps have a swallow of water. I wanted a balance between not taxing myself too much and thus running out of gas, and getting to the top before the snow turned soft, or, my biggest fear, being felled by altitude sickness.<\/p>\n

I made steady progress. A small boulder from a bare ridge high above cannonballed by thirty feet to the left, and I suddenly realized why they called it Avalanche Gulch. I increased the pace as my desire to be above Avalanche Gulch and atop the summit pulled me up.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Climbing up snow in Avalanche Gulch with a view of Red Banks and the Heart (mostly snow-covered) on the way to Mount Shasta’s summit. Photo courtesy of Strudelt<\/a> via a Creative Commons 2.0 license<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Red Banks to Misery Hill to the Summit of Mount Shasta<\/h2>\n

I eventually negotiated one of the narrow chimneys of the Red Banks, the steepest part of the entire climb and the place where I was most grateful for my ice ax. [Note: it’s safer to avoid Red Banks and instead go the right of the Heart and then to the right of Red Banks.]<\/p>\n

\"\"
On Misery Hill above Red Banks, with the summit of Mount Shasta in sight. Photo courtesy of Strudelt<\/a> via a Creative Commons 2.0 license<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Red Banks I made my way up the much gentler slope of Misery Hill, so named because some climbers think they\u2019ll be at the summit at the top of Red Banks, then are devastated to find they still have another 1,200 feet of elevation gain. I was ecstatic: The goal was in sight, and I still had some stamina and no signs of altitude sickness, even though the air was painfully thin. I continued the ascent, soon passing stinky Sulphur Springs, where John Muir once spent a cold, uncomfortable and noxious night.<\/p>\n

All All the Main Shasta Summit Climbing Are Detailed on this New Map<\/h2>\n
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Comprehensive Trail Map for the Greater Mount Shasta Region<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This map is perfect for exploring Mount Shasta and the nearby areas of natural beauty:<\/strong><\/p>\n