With a perfect window of great weather and low avalanche danger, my buddy and I decided to try for a winter summit of St. Helens. 

We spent a very cold night in the Marble Mountain Snow Park. Only a few cars were there at the time, but a good number drove in between 12-3AM. We had a bit of a late start and rolled out around 5:45AM. It was compact, icy snow from the start. My buddy was in his skins and ski boots and I was in my mountaineering boots. The path was easy to follow with lots of boot prints from the previous days. We crossed Chocolate Falls and then cleared the tree line. It was a little rocky on some of the low flows with a decent slope on climbers left and cornices to the right, but we did our best to stay on the snow instead of having to scramble. I put on my crampons and got out my ice axe shortly before the weather station, as the final push there was very steep and icy. I had some issues getting my axe to bite nicely, but my crampons were solid. 

After the weather station it was starting to get softer in the warm sun. We actually got really hot on the climb. Just below the false summit, we followed the trail to the right instead of hitting it head on because it's extremely steep right now. Everyone else also followed the path to the right for the final push, and then angled back to the left near the top. The last push was really steep. We hit it at a good time where there was some soft snow on top and then harder on the bottom so we had enough purchase with our gear but weren't sliding on mashed potato snow like those who came after us. 

The top was stunning! We did not go to the true summit because it was very corniced and dangerous. We met a lovely St. Helen's Institute volunteer there who warned us of a big overhang even where we were. We could see all the way to the Sisters to the south. After snacks and a few pics, we started heading down.

My friend was on his touring set and I just side stepped down the steep part. It was mushy as I was sliding a bit so I took it slow. Without much drama we made it down to the weather station and then to the Falls, and had a long haul back to the lot. 

We both carried 3L of water. It was very warm on the snow with the sun. We both carried avalanche gear to be safe even with the low risk. We heard that the night of the 13th a big storm rolled in, so stay safe out there! 

Took advantage of a bluebird day and climbed St. Helens in near perfect conditions.  The parking lot at the TH is completely plowed so no difficulties getting there.  Left the TH at 7:45.  The trail to Chocolate Falls is a nice boot path packed snow, once past the falls you meander through the last of the trees onto the boulders or just throw on your traction device and walk in the snow heading to the summit.  With these clear crisp days and nights the snow was hard and crunchy the entire way to the crater rim.  I carried by snowshoes all the way to the top and all the way back to the car not needing them.  Saw several other climbers and a couple people going up to ski down.  Many used crampons, I was able to complete my summit with just microspikes.  Reached the crater rim at 12:45 and was treated with spectacular views of Mt. Rainier and the North Cascades.  The trip down was unfortunately not good for glissading as the snow was too icy, so the slow walk down to the parking lot.  Got back to the car at 5pm.  Overall it was a wonderful day that the views were amazing.  If you have the skill and knowledge to do a winter summit, skip the permit system fiasco and go when  you can avoid the mess.

Weather conditions looked excellent and avalanche danger low so we decided on a day hike to the summit of Mt St Helens. We were *not alone*-- lots of people on the trail. We set off from the TH around 8am. The trail was compact snow and ice the whole way to the summit. We were fine in boots for the first couple miles and put on crampons around 4000 elevation.  We saw a couple people in microspikes, but felt crampons were more appropriate. We had carried snowshoes as well, they ended up being training weight since the snow was hard packed in most places.  Lots of people carrying skis up, but with the icy conditions earlier in the day, we saw lots of them carry the skis back down again too. The ridgeline was corniced and had exposed rock/dirt, I practiced my mixed climbing on rock/snow in crampons but my hubby took them off for this section. You can avoid the rock, but that puts you into an area with significant cornice collapse danger. We hiked up at a leisurely pace, there was no way to really go fast in some areas because of all the people! 

We reached the saddle where most people stop at the crater rim around 1pm and headed climber's left to traverse to the true summit. The most difficult conditions of the day were during the traverse. Some of the ice was so hard that I couldn't get my ice axe to bite, although my crampons usually did. The summit itself was also very icy and angled so we opted to backtrack to a saddle along the way for our lunch break. Very cold here with the wind, I put on my warm layers, even my belay jacket! Word on the mountain was that a couple people had taken falls and slid a significant distance in the icy conditions. I don't think anyone was seriously injured. I watched a couple skier falls as well. 

After finding friends at the main saddle, we goofed around a little and descended slowly. Two in our expanded party tried glissading and it was too icy to stop very well so they gave up on that. On the lower sections the snow had warmed up significantly so we were able to take crampons off around 6000 elevation and just boot down. Looked like the late-coming skiers were having better luck as conditions had improved. Our leisurely descent took 3 hours and we were back to the car with headlamps at 7pm. I do recommend using care on the descent, especially if it's growing dark, we pointed the right direction to several parties who were getting off route- esp near the Chocolate Falls crossing. 

Per GPS (approximated via 4 tracks with slightly different stats) about 12.2 miles 6600 gain to the true summit RT

Our lady Loowit.

A couple of firsts on this trip - if my chronology is correct, this was my first bulger summit, as well as my first Washington volcano summit. After a few attempts to score a climbing permit, I eventually gave up on the system and just opted to climb outside of the permit window, which I now see as the better option all together for those adequately equipped for Winter mountaineering. The crowds do not seem to be any less, but it is slightly less of a junk show, compared to stories I've heard from climbing during the permitted date window.

Spencer and I set off from the Climber's Bivouac at something like 0400 on Saturday morning the 10th. The parking lot was quiet, most folks were still sleeping in their vans and the back of their SUVs, so we quietly slipped out, making the most of the early morning hours. The trail was under snow directly out of the parking lot, so we knew we were in for a long day, booting the whole way.

Weather and temperatures were calm most of the way up, the wind stand consistent but temperatures did come up a little while we were below the crater rim, but once we had gained the rim the winds were noticeable again. The rim was frighteningly crowded with day climbers and skiers. While we had not done much research into the route as far as locating the true summit, that was without doubt our intended destination. Looking off to the west and seeing only one or two climbers, we quickly realized that that is where we would rather be, away from the hordes and on the true summit. Off we went.

Once we left the crater rim, the texture and density of the snow and ice changed considerably. Moving further west around the rim, conditions became unrelentingly icy and windy. There is a short section of down climbing between high points on the crater rim en route to the true summit, which took some heads-up foot work, and good traversing technique. We ended up only seeing one gentleman out at the true summit and he was on his way out as we made our way up, leaving us with the true summit all to ourselves. What a treat on such a popular climb. 

We had both come into this climb a quart low, running on inadequate sleep, caffeine, stoke, and a regrettable amount of sugar, so by the time we topped out we were both pretty gassed. We snapped a few photos (now writing this July of 2019, I still have not edited these photos), enjoyed the solitude of the summit a moment longer, and began our descent. It was a bit of a wild scene returning to the crater rim: skiers wearing everything from alpine touring kits to tutus, a guy trying to glissade with his trekking poles, no axe, and crampons still on, and a number of rowdy snowboarders creating quite the ruckus. Needless to say, we were ready to be done.

This was without doubt one of the longest descents in recent memory. I am not certain why this one had such an agonizing impact on me, but it just felt  indefinitely unending. This was the moment, as skiers went darting by, that it crystallized in my mind how efficient alpine touring really is. I had always seen skiing as a rich person's activity to be conducted on manicured groomers, and comfortable ski lodges, there was no room in my mind for the cross section of skiing and climbing, until now. Now it made sense. 

A few firsts, a notable realization, and more mileage in the bank. This was a successful outing out getting acquainted with one of Washington's most prized icons.