It’s a question that comes up often for Mount Shasta - “Do I really need a guide, or can I manage it on my own?” The answer depends on your background, your goals, and how comfortable you are making decisions at altitude, and when the environmental variables or...
Spring’s arrival on the West Coast this year has caught everyone off guard. With temperatures nearly 20 degrees above average, skiers are left wondering if winter slipped away before it truly began. But on Mount Shasta, the story is different: the early warmth has...
Having just completed a quick ski tour up to 10k in Avalanche Gulch on Mt Shasta, I thought it timely to address the issue of finding the right backcountry ski boot (the spring-like conditions were phenomenal by the way!!). Choosing the right backcountry ski boot is...
Caleb here - I wrote this piece over the last year, and submitted it to the American Avalanche Association’s publication, The Avalanche Review. It was published in the most recent TAR released in early February. It goes out to members throughout the year, and I...
Spending time in the mountains as a guide or outdoor professional offers a kind of perspective that is hard to find elsewhere. When you are not just moving through a landscape, but having to pay close attention to it, watching the subtle shifts in a glacier, noticing...
I’m finally home after three back-to-back avalanche courses, and the quiet feels earned. The past few weeks have been a blur of long drives, endless coffee, and a steady rotation of different snowpacks. I started with a ski patrol–specific Pro 1 at Palisades Tahoe,...
With the unseasonably mild winter we are experiencing here on Mt. Shasta, we have been fielding a fair number of calls from people inquiring about attempting the summit this season. Because of this, I thought it would be instructive to write a brief overview of what...
What is a beacon park? It is a designated training area containing up to eight buried beacon-transmitting units. These parks feature a control box that allows you to turn on or off all (or some) of the transmitters to simulate different search scenarios. Avalanche...
Much of my previous writing has focused on the subject of risk. I’ve written a good amount about how we perceive it, tolerate it, manage it, and sometimes misjudge it. Over the years, my interest in human psychology and physiology has led me to think deeply about how...
Avalanche education is one of the most important steps anyone can take before spending time in winter mountain terrain. Whether you ski, snowboard, snowshoe, snowmobile, work on ski patrol, or respond as an EMS professional, understanding avalanche risk directly...
