Road is paved all the way up to the Sno-Park trailhead. Tried to drive up to Climbers Bivouac trailhead but hit deep snow about 2 miles short. Google maps has the road between the two trailheads as closed but it is in fact open. Started hiking up & hit intermittent snow 1/2 mile past the old gravel quarry, continuing pretty much all the way up to the intersection with the Loowit Trail. It should be melted in the next 2-3 weeks but for now is easy to cross & very much packed down until right before the intersection, which is post holey for maybe 1/8 mile. After the Loowit intersection, we followed the rocky/boulder ridge, which was snow free for the next couple of miles &/or couple of thousand feet of scrambly ascent. Just below the weather station, we ran out of rocky ridge & put on our micro spikes. From this point to the crater rim was all on snow with easy to see boot pack. Most others I saw had ice axes. I made it work with my poles. Another group I saw had no poles or axes & did make the crater rim. I guess most brought the axes for the glissade down. The hike down was wet & slushy so start earlier than we did at 8:30am if you are not skiing or glissading down. Advisory: If you want to look down into the caldera, hike this in the Summer after the snow melts. As of now, the whole crater rim has an overhanging soft, mushy snow cornice. Only a small part of the rim has been flagged to stay behind & is easy to miss.

Shared a bunch of photos and notes here!: 📸 https://www.itsangiemarie.com/blog/helens-2025 

Please do not glissade with crampons on! Three men on their descent together came scarily close to my group and others while sliding down with crampons still on. This isn’t only dangerous to others (because of potential impact and sharp metal), but is incredibly dangerous for the glissader as well (ACL tears, broken ankles, lacerations, etc.)

I love how on Mt. Adams there are signs at the start of the South Climb warning people about the dangers of doing this. I wish MSH had the same ones! Here’s some info to review on staying in control while glissading, proper ice axe position, etc

Started the ascent at 3:40am. Snow cover was constant at 1-1.5 miles in. Used microspikes for the duration of the climb. The snow was nice and firm. Many boot paths to follow with ease. The weather was so amazing, sun all day with a slight breeze and occasional gust. Once on the crater rim the wind picked up a bit, but nothing over 10-15 mph. Summit trail was the spiciest of the climb with a couple sections that made me want to put on my crampons, but in the end micros and ice axe in hand did the job.

I got to the summit at 7:40, had a snack and soaked in some views. Pretty sure I was the first ascent of the day and had the summit to myself. Even though the snow was firm and icy, I couldn’t resist glissading on the way down. Some fun chutes but I did pay the price of completely destroying my rain pants, lol. Saw lots of folks climbing up on my descent, tons of skiers and snowboarders as well as climbers.

Beautiful day, perfect weather and easy climbing conditions. Back in the car at 11am.

Beautiful day out. Summit lunch was superb. A couple thousand feet of perfect glacial butt sliding that makes life feel worthy of its inherent absurdity. We felt so lucky. 

A night quiet Sunday night at the sno-park allowed for some decent sleep. We got up and started on trail at about 5:45. I wish we were starting hours earlier but my buddy was getting his first summit and I wanted soft snow for his first glissading. The trail is snow free for about the first 1.5 miles which is very welcome for the end of April. The bad part of warmth is when we did hit snow it was a little soft and slippery all the way up to around monitor ridge. The snow consolidated and was of much better consistency after this point up to the summit. At monitor ridge we went around it to the right. The hill going up was a little steeper and looked like a cornice that I didn’t like. Once you summit please please respect the flagged off area. It is maybe 25 feet from the edge. You will not see the crater from here but you’ll live to see it again. It’s flagged off for a reason. A climber lost his life last year getting too close. We hiked up there two days after and it was pretty eerie seeing the area where the cornice broke and took him down to the crater area. Be careful. Be safe. Stay alive. Ok off my soapbox but over the years I’ve seen many people ignore the lines. It’s not worth it.