In March, 2008, I was trying to get another winter ascent under my belt. I had been frustrated with the Colorado weather and snowpack, so I decided to fly out to Sacramento and meet up with my brother, Darren, for a winter attempt on Mt. Shasta. Avalanche Gulch had a stable snowpack, which was very uncommon for that time of year. Darren picked me up at the airport, and we were off! We hit the trail late in the afternoon, and planned on camping at Lake Helen (10,500').
That night, a storm blew in unexpectedly, and the temperature plummeted below zero, with 50+ mph winds. It was my most miserable night in the mountains of my entire life. Sorry, Darren! We abandoned our summit attempt the next morning and instead enjoyed our ski descent back to Bunny Gulch.
I recorded several movies of our miserable night in the tent. Here they are -- sorry for some bad language!
