Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mountaineering Class and Guides

My buddies and I would like to take a class that covers the basics of winter mountaineering. Then go on a guided winter climb.

There seem to be quite a few companies out there that offer these services. Can anyone offere any suggestions, comments and recommendations on who is good.

Also, at the risk of getting off topic, we would like to possibly climb Mt. Shasta for the guided winter climb. There seem to be only a few guide companies that cover Shasta. A search of the Board turned up Shasta Mountain guides, but no details on how good they are. Anyone have any recommendations on good guides for Shasta. Thanks,
Thomas

If memory serves me correct, SMG doesn't offer any trips in the winter time. The closest you will get to a guided winter climb will be a late April trip up the Casaval Ridge. This, you don't want to do as your intro to Mt. Shasta, take my word for it.
I seem to remember SMG offering courses in mountaineering starting sometime mid March, this doesn't involve a summit attempt. As an intro to Shasta you need to do a climb up the Normal Route, AKA The John Muir Route, AKA Avalanche Gulch. There is a very good reason it is called Av. Gulch. Having been partially covered in one at Horse Camp, some 3 miles from the summit I can tell you that AV. Gulch is no place for a novice or a guided group in the winter. This is why most parties stick to the ridges in the winter.
If you want to wait until mid July you can do the Av. Gulch route without a guide.All you need is a strong pair of legs, crampons,ice axe and a helmet.Water of course as well. That being said, if you still want to take a mountaineering course, SMG almost always works their courses as part training, part summit clmb.They ususally run 3-4 days. Be in good shape.

Now, in my opinion, attempting Shasta in the winter with no basic mountaineering skills, regardless if you are guided or not is a VERY serious undertaking. Shasta, like Ranier, creates its own weather patterns, it gets darn cold darn quick.There are glaciers, precipitous drop offs, lots of rock fall and not very much help near by if you get in trouble. My advice for someone with no training is to do a late spring course followed by a guided summit attempt, then, and only when you are surely an accomplished mountaineer, think about a winter ascent.Until then, get the idea out of your head. Besides Yosemite, Shasta has the most accidents every year in the state of California.

I don't know what part of the state or country you live in but, winter mountaineering courses are offered in the Lake Tahoe area, Mt.Hood area, Seattle Area and the Lee Vining/Mammoth area.

Hello Thomas
Try sierra wilderness seminars (mountainering course and shasta clims) they do ice climbing to.
the best RMI rainier, they do winter course to and are really good. hope this help

Try a university or community college for some outdoor training classes. They'll be pretty cheap, and plenty of other novices to learn with. There was one at CSU, Sacramento, at one time, although I wouldn't pay to go with them.

Basically, I never had any formal training as to winter mountaineering. Yosemite Mountaineering School offered snow and ice climbing, but they are pretty expensive, now. I simply went out into the snow, with minimal equipment, and learned the hard way. Freedom of the Hills made my main advice. You can study how to do ice axe from a book, the principles are pretty simple. As they say, if you do it wrong, it's your life.

In winter they may not be vital for the Gulch route on Shasta. I'd spend the money on warmer clothing. People may try to do brutal weather, previously unimaginably cold, for them, by what disinformation they were given. Go into wherever your local mountains are, and stand around in the outdoors. Go out at night, too. You'll see how cold it can get, and, without investing in hundreds of dollars worth of gear, you can see if you'll like this.

I'd put aside your ambitions for a winter Shasta climb. Avalanches, hypothermia, getting lost, have all cost life and limb. No amount of training or gear would have prevented much of this. Locally, I'd suggest Alpine Skills Inst., if they are still around. Costly, but you'll have some real experts. They are serious, and demand competance. If you are slow, or slow on the uptake, no guide will deal with you. But money can cure that, although you may be turned around before the top. There is only so much a guide can or will do.

I also highly recommend "Sierra Wildeness Seminars". They do a lot of summer and winter stuff, in a lot of different places, but especially here in California. I went with them on a few trips. Will certainly go back on more.

You might try Sierra Mountain Center (http://www.sierramountaincenter.com). They are local in Bishop, and run several winter trips in the Sierra. Shasta? There are probably lots of outfits that will run a Shasta trip if you ask.

I took a winter survival, avalanche course from a very qualified guide, Doug Nidever. He's based out of June Lake, and guides ice climbing as well. We took the course as a group and had a great time, learning a ton that I have since been putting to good use. His website is at www.themountainguide.com. His credentials are pretty impressive. Have fun.

I would recommend Expedition Adventures at 858-271-8693, San Diego. I'm the owner, and have extensive experience in the Mountaineering, Alpine, and Big Wall areas.
Feel free to give me a call, Cheers, Michael Dong

I can vouch for Doug395's recomendaion: I met Doug Nidever 3 years ago on the Whitney Mountaineers route when he was leading a private client. Very good guy with solid experience and knowledge. I spoke to his client and he gave Doug very high marks.

The other place that many people go on the west coast is Rainier Mountaineering in Seattle. If you can travel farther, Exum Guides in the Tetons are among the best in the US.

Another good choice is IMG, International Mountain Guides, www.mountainguides.com They offer many course and climbs including early spring climbs on Whitney via the Mounaineers route. They are very experience guides that have done most of the major mountains in the world. I have climbed on Rainier with George Dunn and will be going up Whitney with him this March. I had a n excellant time and learned a lot with him on Rainier.

I met Michael rock climbing several years ago when I was just getting into it.

Not only have we been rock climbing together all over the place, over the years he’s guided me on multiple trips up San Gorgonio, Whitney, Russell and North Palisade. Most of these trips were in winter conditions. While we didn’t summit on every attempt, we did always come back safe and we always had a good time. I’m hoping to have him take me up Rainier and Shasta sometime.

Michael is also full of all kinds of trivia about the areas you are in. Makes it interesting to hear about the geology, first ascents of the peak, native Americans and stuff like that. He also seems to know all the side-trips to take to see interesting things like Fossil Falls, Mule days in Bishop and various museums that seem to be around.

Some of you may also know that Michael has not only summitted Denali, he was involved in a high profile rescue on there a few years ago and has since been back to work as a volunteer ranger.

If you have any questions about climbing with him, you can feel free to email me at lenger@cox.net

Hi,

I met Michael Dong just a few short years ago. His enthusiasm and knowledge are what led me "astray" from being a lowly backpacker and into giving mountaineering a try. I was 47 then, sort of a late start but at 50 I am still raring to learn and do more. What I learned from him on my first "big" mountain (Shasta) is what I applied to successfully make a Rainier summit last June. E-mail me if you would like any more blatant testimonials!

Jim