5-Day Glacier Course
Mount Shasta via Hotlum Glacier

Mt. Shasta is one of the most beautiful snow covered mountains in the country. From the freeway or the town the peak is breathtaking. The most southern and second highest Volcano (14,180 ft) in the cascades. The north side has massive expanses of glaciers. These are some of California's last remaining glaciers. The north side provides a completely secluded and remote experience compared to the south side. While on the mountain our team of AMGA Certified mountain guides will give you the skillset necessary to descend this beautiful volcano via the Hotlum Glacier Route.

During this 5-day course our goal is to get you comfortable traveling on glaciers and climbing glaciated terrain unguided. We cover everything from efficient ice axe and crampon use, full one to one crevasse rescue, ice climbing, white out navigation, and much more. This is the perfect course for someone looking to gain all the mountaineering skills in a single week.

Course Objectives

Mountaineering footwork on snow and rock
Using crampons
Ice Axe use
Self-Arrest
Crevasse Rescue
Ice Climbing Techniques
Snow and ice anchors
Rope Management
White out Navigation
Perfecting your mountaineering camp
Backcountry cooking
Avalanche Education
Steep Climbing and Rope techniques
Winter survival skills
Rope ascension
Emergency response and being safe in the mountains
And much more

Itinerary

Day 1: Meet at Mt. Shasta, CA for a gear check at 9 a.m. Drive to Brewer Creek Trailhead (high clearance recommended). We then hike to our basecamp. This day is spent getting a perfect camp set up for our time out in the mountains. In the evening we will go over backcountry cooking and navigation skills. Your guide will then prepare you dinner before bed.

Day 2: After your guide prepares you breakfast. We will spend the day around camp going over all the knots, snow anchors, haul systems, ice axe and crampon use. We will take a deep dive into understanding how glaciers form and how we can plan a safe route and use the rope to travel through glaciated terrain.

Day 3: After breakfast we will head out onto the glacier. This day is spent doing real world crevasse rescue. Each person will have the opportunity to perform a full crevasse rescue with their partner in an actual crevasse. We will then find a crevasse or serac to practice our ice anchors and go ice climbing in summer! After getting back to camp your guide will prepare dinner, and we will get ready for our summit day the following morning.

Day 4: After an alpine start we work our way through the complex glacier on the Hotlum glacier. The higher we get on the mountain the more technical it becomes. Your AMGA Certified Mountain Guide will explain and show you the systems he or she is using as they belay you and move with you in the complex terrain. After a long day we will stand on the summit of Mt. Shasta 14,180 ft. Then we make our descent back to camp and enjoy a relaxing evening paired with a great dinner after a job well done.

Day 5: Today we have a leisurely morning and cover any further skills we may not have gotten to. This is a day where we can dive deeper into the many topics you may have questions about. After some skills we will break camp and head back to the trailhead.

Prerequisites