Hey Ya'll,

Driving through the Colorado Rockies on my way to work everyday has got me all amped up to get climbing this summer! Unfortunately my Shasta climb is still 5 months away.  At the moment I haven't done a whole lot of training. I don't want to start training too early and end up burning myself out or peaking before the summit attempt. So for now I've settled on maintaining my current fitness level. My dog sledding job keeps me pretty active during the day and being at 9,000 feet doesn't hurt either. I've also been doing a little yoga on my own to increase my flexibility. Looking forward to getting out and adding some cross country skiing and snowshoeing to my fitness routine in the near future.

Even though I haven't been doing much climbing lately, I have been doing some research on the route that I will be taking up Mt. Shasta this June. Our Summit for Someone team and guides will be going up the west face of Shasta. We will be climbing with an outfit called Shasta Mountain Guides . The west face route is less traveled and more remote than some of the other routes to the summit. The climb will start at 6,800 feet from the trailhead parking lot and take about three days.  We will make base camp in Hidden Valley after traversing a few snowfields and talus. Base camp will be at 9,200 feet. From base camp we will head straight up the west face chute which is covered in snowfields and has a 40-45 degree slope for about 300 feet. We will follow the gully to the right and continue up to Fang Rock at about 12,500 feet. We will then climb to the saddle at 13,300 feet.  From here we will follow a ridge and cross Whitney Glacier. This will take us to the top of Misery Hill where we will head for the summit via the summit plateau. We will hopefully reach the summit at 14,180 feet and then head back down.

I have never done this type of climbing before but reading the description has got me pretty excited. Crampons and an ice ax will be necessary to climb the steep snow fields. At the moment I have no idea how to use these tools, but I am using all these long winter nights to read and research all I can about mountain climbing gear and techniques. There's a lot to learn!

Well that's all I have for now, but stay tuned for more updates on the mountain and my training. And remember I'm doing all this to raise money for Big City Mountaineers so if you feel so inclined visit my fundraising page and donate. Follow this link Jake's SFS Fundraising Page and click donate or click on the "donate now" widget on my main blog page. Thanks!

"Mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter"
-Ed Viesturs (First American to climb all fourteen 8,000 meter peaks)

Views of the west face of Mt. Shasta