Mt. Shasta - SMG Guide Training School

Dates: April 27-28, 2009 Duration: 2 days, 1 night Mileage: ~6 miles Group Members: Nick McGuire, 6 others from OA, and 25+ SMG guides and other participants Pack Weights: Unknown (varied each day) Notes: This trip was the first guide training out of the year for Shasta Mountain Guides. Myself and most of the other guides from UC Davis who went on the first trip earlier that month were invited back to go through their official training Day 1: (~1.7 miles) Met at the Fifth Season rental store in the the town of Mount Shasta at 9AM and discussed gear and trips for a while before heading up the the Bunny Flat parking lot. Hiked to Horseshoe Camp in three separate groups of 10 people and set up camp. Composting toilet was open for the season which was nice and snow conditions were good...was snowing off and on throughout the day. After a brief LNT presentation in the Sierra Club Cabin we split back up into our groups and headed off for a snow school. Went over all the basics again including ice axe handling and self-arrest and proper climbing and traversing techniques. Headed back to camp and made dinner in our three groups. Hung out for a while in the evening meeting different people while the head guides from SMG had a meeting in which they decided we would not be making a summit bid and instead would focus on snow school. Went to bed around 8-9ish and planned to wake up around 7AM. Day 2: (~4 miles) Woke up around 7:00AM and ate a leisurely breakfast. Head out of camp by 8ish for our second snow school. Went a little higher up the mountain just east of Giddy Giddy Gulch entrance to find steeper snow. Practiced crampon techniques for a while and then spent the rest of the time learning how to properly set up a rope team and short rope participants up a slope. Snowed off and on the entire morning and visibility was low. After a few hours we head back down to break camp and were back at the parking lot and all packed just after noon.