Reed

Of course, you can climb Mt. Baker car to summit in one day, but if a guy is traveling all the way from Mississippi, I assume he wants to learn mountaineering techniques as opposed to just getting up to the summit. And 3 days is not that long compared to the wealth of things out there to be learned and practiced: glacier/mountain camping, knots, prussiking, climbing and descending snow slopes, cramponing, ice ax self-arrest, snow anchors, roped travel and crevasse rescue at the bare minimum. Then there's also route finding, map&compass navigation, and judgment which are skills that you gain with experience. So my point is, know whether you just want to climb Mt Baker or to learn mountaineering. Then look for a guide/guiding company that will give you what you want. As of AAI, I took their 13-day training course and they were absolutely awesome. Oh, and one more piece of advice. Before you sign up for anything like that, go on a lot of uphill hikes. That will help you develop musculature and get you used to climbing. Being adequately strong will make sure you get most out of your climb and the climb will be enjoyable. I've seen too many newbies out there who despite being in pretty reasonable shape dreaded the climb just because they had no musculature for intense uphill climbing.

Thanks for advice, guys. Much appreciated! One more question. I'm looking at the summit weather forecast and it looks like it's going to be snowing starting tonight until at least Sunday night. Forecast for Mt Shasta, CA town says that it will keep snowing until Wednesday. The bottom line is, there's going to be quite a bit of new snow. Will that make the route avalanche prone if I'm planning to climb on Wednesday? In general, given that there will be a lot of new snow is it a good idea to climb on Wednesday?

So I'm taking Thanksgiving week off and I'm planning to drive from Seattle to SF to visit my college friends. I was thinking of fun outdoor activities I can do en route to SF, so I'm considering attempting Mt. Shasta. From what I hear the Avalanche gulch is fine to be climbed without a rope, right? Also, considering that this is an off season climb, should I be concerned about avalanches? Any other advice on climbing Shasta? Thanks!