"My first 14'r! It was a smoky summit of Shasta with LC and AK via the Clear Creek Trail. Day one we hiked from the parking lot to base camp and woke up @ 1am on day two for a summit bid. We were the first up the route, hitting the top at ~8am, back to camp ~11:15am (some glissading), before packing, snacking and to the car by 2pm. All told took us about 11 hours moving time from car-to-car. Was a busy day on the mountain, probably 60-70 people going for the top we saw. Temps were pretty nice, not too hot, not too cold." — zachmitch • Jul 26, 2024

"Icy snow made the ascent more challenging than expected. On the way back, I witnessed the helicopter rescue of a skier caught in an avalanche above Helen Lake (not on the standard Avalanche Gulch route)." — Taras • May 3, 2024

"May 13, 2023. Camped on snow at the trailhead the night before. Started from Bunny Flat at 4:11am. Skinned until just above Helen Lake and cached my skis at the rocks above Helen Lake at 11,200 feet. Solid boot pack up to Red Banks. Multiple small avalanches from the past week were along the cliffs, climbers left on the way to Helen Lake. One larger avalanche was evident in Avalanche Gulch drainage, you had to cross the debris field to continue right of the Heart to Red Banks. Windy on the ridge to Misery Hill, but not too bad with a hardshell. Summited straight up the summit pinnacle and descended via spiraling down and around the easy way. Sticky, potato snow on the ski back to the trailhead. " — runningvegan • May 13, 2023

"Mostly beautifil day below 12k. Red rocks still had snow to climb in. Above 12k had incredible winds. Near Misery Hill winds strong enough to throw me to the ground. The dip between Shasta and the hill had the winds subside" — Irrationalist • Jun 10, 2022

"May 14, 2022. Started at 3am at Bunny Flat. Reached Helen Lake at sunrise. Wind started up on the final stretch to Helen Lake. Whiteout conditions soon after continuing on from Helen. Seven or so climbers came back down after calling it quits and we continued up. One other climber joined use. Once we reached the base of the Heart conditions cleared up, but the wind gusts continued. Wind funnels blowing ice and gusts that blew us to our knees and pelted us with ice. One other climber was up at the base of Red Banks then she came down and went back up to that area again. We continued to the base of Red Banks and the wind conditions continued. We called it and headed back down. Lots of skiers were headed up from Helen. Lots of guided groups were headed up to Helen. Used microspikes in the morning up to Helen then switched to crampons. " — runningvegan • May 14, 2022