We snowshoed in a little bit and Chuck found a good spot with steep snow slopes that we could practise on. About half the class were novices to mountaineering like me, but the other half had already done a fair bit of it and wanted a refresher.

We left on Friday morning, planning to spend two nights on Mount Shasta. We intended to hike on Friday to 10200 feet, set up camp on the West Face, and spend Saturday practicising around the camp area; we would then try to summit on Sunday. Unfortunately, the weather turned bad on Friday evening; winds were gusting at about 30 to 40 mph and about half a foot of fresh snow fell on the mountain. Because of the new avalanche danger, strong winds, and poor visibility, we waited for a break in the weather before quickly breaking camp and descending on Saturday.