Left the TH at 4:00 a.m. Encountered patchy snow about 1 mile in, and then consistent to Chocolate Falls. We stuck to the rocks on the ridge until the weather station. There, we put on micro spikes and carried ice axes to the summit. By that time, the snow was soft enough that we felt good in spikes and didn't need crampons but others may feel differently (we definitely would have used crampons if we'd gotten there a bit earlier in the morning.) We didn't find snowshoes necessary. Six hours to summit, where we spent about an hour (mind the cornice!) Awesome views, but accompanied by a gusty and cold wind. Glad we had big puffy parkas in tow. Given the recent snowfall, there weren't the usual bomber glissade chutes for the descent, so we hoofed it down for about the first 1000' and then found some usable chutes. Snow was quite a bit softer on the descent. Overall, we were able to drop about 3000' before we gave up the glissading and hiked out the rest of the way. Bad weather rolled in as we reached Chocolate Falls, so we were grateful for the early start. Returned to the TH at 2:00 p.m. (3 hours for descent.) I just love this route and this mountain! 

Hiked on June10th. Started at 3:00AM and encountered the first snow around 1-1.5miles up the trail. More conditions shown in this video: https://youtu.be/nV-ZixLx-mw

 The snow was consistent all the way to the rim although the rocks on the ridge are snow free. Take caution the cornice on the rim is still present and very dangerous. My group traversed counterclockwise around the rim till we found a edge with no cornice.
Made a video of the hike you can find it here:

https://youtu.be/nV-ZixLx-mw

Trip report from 6/8/22 here: https://www.outspired.org/blog/helens-fundraiser

Beautiful June day with conditions more like late April or early May. Parking lot wasn't too packed. While not empty, the mountain wasn't too crowded on a Tuesday. Essentially snow free for the first three quarters of a mile then mostly snow covered until chocolate falls. This lumpy and annoying layer of snow won't be gone for at least 1-2 more weeks. Mostly snow free from chocolate falls up to the climbing permit post at 4,400 feet (assuming you stay on the ridge) then all snow until the summit.

What gear you'll need depends on the time of day you start and the weather/temperature. If, like me, you get an alpine start at 2:30am (or earlier) on a clear cool night you can expect firm and icy snow conditions. I donned crampons at 4,600 feet and didn't take them off until I returned to the same spot after summiting. Above 7,500 feet there was a solid layer of rime ice, and crampons felt perfect for the conditions. Microspikes would be fine for some. The timing worked great with perfect plunge stepping the whole way down without any postholing.

If you're starting after sunrise then expect sloppy mashed potatoes both up and down except for maybe the top portion of the mountain. I would at least bring microspikes in the pack in case you need them, but you likely won't if you're summiting after 10 or 11am. I'm not a huge fan of snowshoes on steeper slopes like those on Saint Helens but if you like them then they'd work fine. Honestly if it's that soft you could just glissade almost the entire way down to the rocky ridge (bring an ice axe). Note that I didn't see a single skier skinning up when I came down. All A-framing because it was so soft.

All in all a great day on the mountain! Have fun out there!

Standard Worm Flows ski trip. Peaceful car camp 5/31.  Light crowd.  On the trail 5:20 AM no headlamp; snow free for about a mile and then some intermittent skis on and off.  Continuous snow started a bit above Chocolate Falls. Warm and overcast, with frustrating white-out the top couple of hundred vertical feet.  Couldn't see a thing at the top. Slushy but no overt slides triggered; no shooting cracks, whumping. Visible cornices on ridges to the West of the route: avoid traveling under. A tiny bit icy at the top but otherwise ice axe/crampons/spikes/ski crampons not really apropos. Snow conditions dictated A-framing for us rather then skinning; your mileage may vary. Ski conditions ranged from fair to acceptable in places.