February 2015 Casaval Ridge Attempt, Mt. Shasta

February 2015 Casaval Ridge Attempt

My Friend Gergo and I decided to make a run up Casaval ridge right on the First week of February, and had a great time checking out a route that neither of us had been on before.  The weather was unseasonably hot and we ended up carrying way too much gear in retrospect.

We drove straight to the mountain on Friday after work, hiked in from bunny flat on snowshoes, and camped at the base of the ridge on Friday night just past Horse Camp.

Gergo and I modeling the Frontpoint Parka and Icefall Parka for Feathered Friends.  We are still awaiting our sponsorship applications to come through (badass outdoor athletes we are :)

The second day (after a mouse ate Gergo's sandwiches) we hiked up to 10,300ft on Casaval ridge and bivied for the day for a planned summit that morning.  There was thankfully already a cut-out tent platform that made pitching the Eldorado short work.

A great sun set shot looking out the tent door to the West.

This is a great video of the view we had of Casaval ridge high on the mountain.

At midnight the wind picked up significantly and started shaking the tent pretty hard.  We checked NOAA and saw wind gusts over 100mph and decide to hastily bail at 2am.  Discretion is the better part of valor.  Shasta will always be there the next day.

The last piece to this failed attempt was my bonehead move of wearing a brand new pair of boots for the first time on a climb.  The LaSportiva Baruntses fit in the store, fit walking around, but when my feet swelled at altitude they absolutely KILLED my feet.  I hobbled painfully up and down the mountain, and I still have a bad blister on my foot almost a month later.  Thank you REI for returning them!

It has snowed significantly since we bailed off the mountain 4 weeks ago, but Gergo and I will be back.  The route looked beautiful and we will return with MUCH less gear!