New to Climbing. Suggest Cascades to Climb

[Drew Vincent]

Hello, I am new to climbing and just finished climbing Mount Shasta in Northern CA for the third time. Its not really technical, just a bit strenuous. I was wondering if anyone could suggest another Cascade to climb next that would be a step up from Shasta, and perhaps one of the more accessable and less obscure peaks where it may be easier to get gear and available resources. Thanks.

[genepires]

do you have glacier skills?

[DPS]

Mt Baker. You would have some learning to do (roped travel, z- haul system, Prusiking) etc. but it is an extremely worthy objective.

[Le Piston]

I have taken several "new to climbing" friends up Sahale. Not technically difficult, moderate approach on good trail, great views of future objectives...check it out. Cheers!

[LostCamKenny]

why not knock off lassen peak too and then you have done both california cascade volcanoes over 10k, eh?

 

[Drew Vincent]

I have no glacier skills, nor any experience climbing with ropes ...yet. But these are the things that I am looking to expand into. Crampons and ice axe are the only gear Ive used so far. Would most of you recommend taking a course to get aquainted with ropes and intermediate climbing tecniques? Ive read a little about Mt Baker, how is it compared to Mt Rainier or Mt Hood?

[LostCamKenny]

hood is fairly basic and straightforward when you do the southside route, but you should still know the basics of roped glacier travel. you might only rope up for the 'schrund, but, if you plan to do other mountains, knowing the techniques of glacier travel will serve you well. i cannot comment firsthand on baker, but by everything i have read here on cc it sounds like the standard route is much the same as hood's in terms of difficulty. rainier on the other hand is a truly big mountain, but if you handled the altitude on shasta (which is similar to rainier - only a few hundred feet lower) then it stands to reason that you could handle rainier, too. i would do the other lower volcanoes of the cascades and work up to rainier since you'd probably be doing it as a two-day climb.

 

lassen peak is non-technical and in yer neighborhood. if you can get up shasta then lassen should be a walk-up for you.

 

pick up a copy of "freedom of the hills" and start reading. this is no substitute for actual experience, but it will at the very least introduce you to the more technical side of climbing the big(ger) mountains. there is nothing wrong with taking a course to become acquainted with these techniques, but i bet they will tell you to buy the book, too. i've taken several crevasse rescue courses and i've learned something everytime.

 

when you are not in the mountains, and simply hiking around, do yourself a favor and hike with a pack that is loaded with some weight. then, try to keep yerself moving at a pace that you can maintain for a looooooooong time, as this is the pace you want to keep in the mountains.

 

best of luck!

 

[TMO]

Definately learn crevasse rescue!

 

I think it is a good idea to work through the volcanoes by their standard routes, easiest to hardest. Everyone has their own opinion on this, but I would suggest;

 

Hood, Adams, Baker then Rainier.

 

Have fun!

[summitchaserCJB]

What about Saint Helens?

[LostCamKenny]

st helens is a really good one too... although it is pretty much absent of glaciers now since the trail to the rim doesn't really go on the remnants of the swift.

[Drew Vincent]

Thanks everyone for the posts and helpful information. I'm thinking about going back to Shasta with my climbing partner and attempting one of the more technical ridges, or perhaps one of the glacial approaches on the North side to build rope and glacial traverse skills, as well a practice in biovac. This seems like a good idea for me being that its close by and I could build my climbing skills before moving on to a larger and more dedicated climb. Washington seems a bit far away at this point, but I'll get there. Im going to go buy that book "Freedom of the Hills" right now! -eager to learn. Thanks again.

[t_rutl]

I'll second Mount Adams and Sahale. But if you're coming this far up for Sahale come up for a few days. Add Eldorado and Klawatti to the mix. Eldorado Ice Cap is a beautiful place with many non-technical peaks and realtively benign glacier travel.