Shasta via Avalanche Gulch

Overview

Mount Shasta stands alone — a 4,322 m volcano rising three vertical kilometres straight out of the northern California pines, visible from a hundred miles in every direction. Avalanche Gulch is its time-honoured spring line: a huge, direct snow climb from Bunny Flat through Helen Lake camp at 3,140 m, up through the red volcanic gateway of the Red Banks, over the aptly named Misery Hill to a summit pinnacle streaked with fumarole steam. Climb it in April to June while the gulch is still a firm white ribbon. The moment that stays with people is cresting the Red Banks at sunrise, when the mountain throws a hundred-mile shadow across the valley below. The variable that catches them is timing: by mid-morning the snow softens, rockfall rattles through the chimneys and the descent becomes a knee-deep wallow — summit early or not at all. Late-season the route turns to loose scree and is best avoided. Mount Shasta City sits at the mountain's foot with gear shops that rent everything. Summit passes and wilderness permits are self-issued; a guided climb runs about £700. Glissading down the gulch in the afternoon is the fastest 2,000 m of descent in American mountaineering.

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Prefilled for 1 April 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.