27th Annual Mount Shasta Climb
Trip Report, May 17-18, 2003
Year 27 for me was planned, but
the mid-May date had to change until a quorum was reached and avalanche conditions
lowered. Four of us went up the mountain toward camp at Helen Lake. Due to
cool temperatures, the snow was pretty firm, and I could not climb the last
400 feet with skis and climbing skins, so I just walked up that last piece.
When we got camp set up, the wind was a little harsh, so we decided to put
all four bodies into the three-person North Face tent. That helped with warmth,
but it made it a bit complicated for utilizing space. Snow melting was particularly
slow, and it took us until 10 p.m. just to get hot food and water distributed.
Then the wind rattled the tent all night, and sometime between 2 and 4 a.m.
the speed increased. I was sitting up against the windward wall, trying to
keep the tent upright, and I felt like I was located on the inside of a bass
drum. Eventually one pole section disjointed itself, and then a seam on the
inner tent crown parted for a distance of one foot. Since we had few options,
we just hunkered down. At some hour in the morning, a forest service ranger
was shouting at us that we needed to evacuate the tent. However, we felt
our best plan was to simply stay where we were unless the tent totally disintegrated.
In the late morning the wind speed decreased and the sun warmed us up, so
we decided to cut and run. We hurriedly packed up everything and took off
down the mountain. Unfortunately, the wind had blown my backpack away (even
though it was anchored on an ice axe), so I had quite a challenge to transport
my personal gear. I ended up tying everything into a ball of tent parts and
then towing it on a tether. It was not very graceful, but we all got out
OK.
The windstorm that hit us was the worst that I had ever experienced on the
mountain, and that was in combined terms of intensity and prolonged duration.
Somebody claimed that the wind speed was at least 80 mph, but I doubt that
is was over 60 or 70. It might have been possible that climbers went toward
the summit, but we didn't see any coming down.
this is an evening view of Avalanche Gulch
By the way, after assessing the damage to my big North Face
tent, I realized that some repairs were necessary. A tent like that is too
expensive to just toss aside. It turns out that there is at least one expert
on the job:
Specialty Outdoors is in Spokane, Washington. The focus is sewing and repair for the outdoor enthusiast. That includes:
* tents, packs, clothing
* modifications
* alterations and repairs
* factory authorized by The North Face
the web address is:
http://www/specialtyoutdoors.com
Click here to return to Bob's Home Page