Hey Everyone!! I hope you all had a great week…I am back from our winter Mountaineering trip to Mt. Shasta in northern California. We all had a really great time. The weather was pretty horrendous; however, it made for a wonderful expedition. We didnt make it to the summit this time due to some illnesses and injuries, but this just means I have another chance to go back and attempt it again. The weather was crazy the week before we flew out as well as the week we were there. A day before we arrived in California, Mt. Shasta had received anywhere from 3-10 feet of snow in only a 36 hour period. Snow was falling at a rate of 6-8 inches per hour at times! Winds were also dangerously high, with some recordings at over 160 mph! Basically we were venturing into a winter hurricane. This was very exciting for me.
Therefore, with an average of 6 feet of snow on the ground, snow shoes were mandatory. You can see in the photo how deep you could still go even with snowshoes on! (I told Dave to watch out for those tree wells) 
We all laughed and it made for a good time trying to get him out. After trudging through deep powder all day, we finally arrived at a good place to set up camp. With so much snow on the ground, this was a perfect opportunity to dig and sleep in a snow cave. After a few hours of digging, we could burrow down, squeeze through a small hole, climb up and have enough space to sleep, being completely under the snow.
The next morning, on our only clear day, we could see the route we would hope to take. Here you can see just how windy it was above tree-line.
So with another storm on the way and a few people feeling sick or injured, we would head down the mountain and have to save the winter summit for another time. 
