If you loved our women's hut trips this winter, you'll have a blast on our Mt Shasta 3-Day Summit and Ski Descent. This program takes it up a notch (and a few thousand feet of elevation!) and provides ski mountaineering skills, a summit attempt of a 14,000-foot Cascade Volcano and a ski descent - all with the support of an all women crew and our AMGA-trained lady guides!
During this 3-day, 2-night ski mountaineering trip, we'll bring you from being a backcountry skier to a ski mountaineer with skills and experience that will help you scale big mountains far beyond Mt Shasta. The program begins with a thorough gear check before we get onto the mountain. Next, we approach the climb and set camp, setting tents on snow or dirt depending on conditions, before we provide a comprehensive snow school to build the mountaineering skills needed to climb the mountain and manage the hazards along the way. Once we've gained the skills we need to tackle the climb, we'll make our attempt at the summit. From our highest point, we'll transition and ride thousands of continuous vertical feet back to camp.
What to expect from this trip
This Women's Mt Shasta trip will be an exciting foray into ski mountaineering (using ice axes, crampons and techniques) and will provide a supportive environment to gain skills and knowledge to further your backcountry skiing goals. While the trip is physically demanding (we're climbing up 7,000' with lots of gear after all), it's unimaginably rewarding and the experience is one that will be hard to forget!
You will come away from the trip with a slew of new skills, the experience of climbing and skiing one of the highest peaks of the Cascade range and the confidence to tackle other big-mountain style ski descents.
We never guarantee summits, but our team will do everything we can to get as many skiers and riders to the top as possible while managing risks for the team. We pride ourselves on our success rate!
Skills Covered in this Program
- Camp Craft.
- The Rest Step.
- Crampons (Ski and Boot Crampons).
- Ice Axe Techniques, including positions and self-arrest.
- Rope Techniques for climbing with a guide.
- Decision making in big-mountain terrain.
- Efficiency in movement.
Skier to Guide Ratio
Our maximum 3:1 skier to guide ratio means you'll get ample attention & coaching from our AMGA trained lady guides.
Routes
We offer trips up and down multiple routes including Avalanche Gulch, West Face, Brewer Creek, Clear Creek. Your guides will choose the best route based on weather, climbing conditions and skiing conditions.
REQUISITE EXPERIENCE
Advanced to Expert Skiing Ability. You should feel comfortable on steep, off-piste terrain in variable snow conditions. The routes we will be steep and may have less than ideal snow surfaces.
Proficiency with Backcountry Skiing. You should have a solid level of backcountry skiing experience with the ability to ski and skin with a pack, layer appropriately for the conditions, and perform transitions from skinning to skiing/riding and vice versa. Ski Mountaineering Skills (including ice axe arrest, cramponing, rest step, ski crampons, etc) will be covered during the program and are not a prerequisite to participate.
Excellent Fitness. We'll ascend over 7,000' of elevation on variable terrain, using skins, ski crampons and boot crampons before skiing back down. All this will be with a backpack containing food, water, layering and technical equipment for the day.
If you are unsure about your level of fitness with regards to this program, please reach out and we can help determine if the trip will be right for you. With advanced notice, our partners at can help you build the fitness you need with mountaineering specific programming.
Snow Camping Experience. Basic experience with snow camping will make this trip much more enjoyable, but is not required!
