If you were climbing the mountain likely you would have started about 2 to 3 am so the snow is crusty and stiff enough for your Crampons to work going up so you didn't sink in deep up to your hips in the snow. This is generally what you have to do when climbing above Horse Camp Sierra Club emergency lodge in the Summers. IF you camped at Lake Helen which is at around 10,000 feet in the snow in a snow cave or in a tent, you possibly could start as late as 4 to 6 am because you are already so far up the mountain as long as you reach 12,000 feet before the sun hits the snow you are on.
Also, some people like to climb the ridge where the old Ski bowl used to be to the top. If you do this likely you might leave any time of the day because the ridge is usually melted off this time of year. But, you have to be very sure footed to climb the ridge because if you fall because of loose rocks on the ridge up from the Panther Meadows and Ski Bowl area you could fall thousands of feet.
NOTE: By the way they have opened the road up past Bunny Flats all the way to Panther Meadows and the old ski bowl because the snow all melted off the road finally. end note.
Mt. Shasta is considered either the easiest hard climb or the hardest easy climb. However, just remember people die here every year climbing this mountain year around. All you need is one unguarded moment or someone above you that accidentally dislodges a small pebble which dislodges bigger and bigger rocks above you because of the steep climbing angle on this mountain in many places. A rock smaller than your fist if you don't see it can kill you or a member of your climbing party if you aren't watching for it if it hits you in the head. This is one reason why some climbers wear helmets to protect against this. My point of view is that you might get too hot in the summer wearing a helmet climbing so don't pass out from getting too hot with your helmet on. But, if it is dark still while you are climbing up this shouldn't be a problem.
So, just thinking you are going to survive your mountain climb isn't true unless you are physically and psychologically prepared for basically ANYTHING you might encounter unexpectedly.
I climbed the mountain to the top in August 1970 and then brought plastic and an ice axe and slid down at about 30 mph down the mountain dragging my ice axe with my crampons in my back pack.
But, I was a risk taker more than most were then but always had the instinct to know what I could survive always. Not everyone is like this.
So, always be prepared for anything in any given moment when you climb Mt. Shasta. That way you can stay alive and tell the story of how you climbed Mt. Shasta to your grandchildren one day.
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[PDF]So you want to climb Mt. Shasta - USDA Forest Service
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm9_008138.pdf
Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about climbing Mt. Shasta. The answers are geared for the novice mountaineer, someone ...
Are there people who climb mount Shasta without the proper permits? LIkely yes.
But here's the thing. Mostly these permits are so they can either know you are on the mountain
or come find you alive or find your body and know who it is more than for any other reason.
It's mostly about your safety that these permits are required and not for any other reason.
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