Name: Cascade Volcano Climb - Lassen Peak (CA)
Start: 2024-03-17T09:00:00-07:00
End: 2024-03-20T14:00:00-07:00
Location: Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center

Note - this is a joint trip with the Southwest Explorers League from Santa Fe, NM and the Denver Chapter of the American Alpine Club. I will add participants from those groups as guests.

Interested in climbing big snow-covered mountains but not sure how to get started or what skills you might need? If so, please consider joining me, one of my climbing partners from CA and one of my climbing partners from CO on this trip.

Rating - Mountaineering

Route - Lassen Peak (CA) South Ridge Route
Total RT - approximately 19 miles
Total Elevation gain - approximately 3700ft

PLAN
17 Mar - Meet at Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center (VC) at 9am. Split up team gear and then snowshoe up to Lake Helen (approximately 6.2 miles and 1500 vertical ft) and set up high camp.

18 Mar - Conduct snow training (ice axe usage with focus on self-arrest, glissading, moving on steep snow slopes) near high camp. Turn in early for alpine start next day.

19 Mar - Alpine start for summit (approximately 3.5 miles and 2200 vertical ft), then back to high camp.

20 Mar - Depart high camp at 8am PDT for VC. Depart VC by 2pm.

Note - there is an option to camp at the VC either before or after the climb.

TRAVEL
The closest airports are Redding, CA or Sacramento, CA. The closest town with good lodging is Red Bluff, CA.

Travel insurance - This is a weather dependent activity. If you do not buy refundable airline tickets you might want to consider some form of travel insurance. This trip may be cancelled at short notice due to hazards such as high avalanche danger or the south entrance being closed as it was during the latest storms.

EQUIPMENT
A full equipment list, to include team gear, will be provided to each participant Immediately after the deadline for signing up. Some items that will be required include:
Ice axe
Climbing Helmet (which will be worn anytime we are using ice axes)
Mountaineering boots (hiking boots are not suitable)
Crampons which fit the mountaineering boots
Gaiters
Snowshoes

Note - for those who are using this as an introduction to mountaineering I'd recommend renting gear instead of buying it. Several places in Redding and Sacramento rent mountaineering gear, you would need to plan your flights to allow for time to pick up the gear and turn it in. I have a limited amount of gear that I could loan someone. Contact me for details about either of these.

TRAINING
Physical preparations - Climbing big snow covered mountains demands a different level of fitness than hiking or backpacking. Endurance over multiple long days is key. Here are two resources to develop a training plan: on-line training blogs from Rainer Mountaineering, available at https://www.rmiguides.com/resources/fitness-and-training (they issue a weekly training newsletter which you can sign up for from this site); Uphill Athlete's "Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete" (House/Johnston). (Not just for hard technical climbing, they have a sample Mt Rainier plan for a novice 58 year old climber) uphillathlete.com.

The Alpine Meadows hikes hosted by Mark Dunham are excellent training for this type of trip.

Technical - this is a basic snow climb, requires knowledge of how to use an ice axe and how to move on snow with/without crampons. A good primer on this subject is the American Alpine Club's "Know the Ropes" section of the 2014 "Accidents in North American Mountaineering" (now "Accidents in North American Climbing") - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201212891/Know-The-Ropes-Snow-Climbing

SIGN-UP DEADLINE - 10 Mar 2024

Questions? Please contact me via Meetup message.

Keith Stinebaugh

Mountain Basics

Travel & Outdoor

Outdoors

Outdoor Adventures

Mountaineering

Backpacking

Climbing-Rappelling

Alpine Climbing

Scrambling

Mountains

Cascade Volcano Climb - Lassen Peak (CA)

Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center

Share

Mountain Basics

Cascade Volcano Climb - Lassen Peak (CA)

Mountain Basics

Details

Members are also interested in