Stayed the evening in Cougar, Wa and drove to the trailhead with a party of 4 Friday morning. The road to the trailhead at marble mountain snow park was snow free and we did not hit snow until about a mile into the hike. The weather started off partly cloudy but by the time we hit the 4800 foot mark it was a blue bird day and the sun we torching us. Snowshoes were not required and no traction device all the way to the summit was required snow was soft! We did get above the clouds and that was pretty awesome to see. Hiked with girlfriend and parents took us 7 hours to reach the summit and 4 hours to get back to the car. There were about 18 people on the mountain that day. We had the only two dogs. Dogs did great they were exhausted by the end but had no problems on the trip.

Hiked/skied to the summit of Mount St. Helens on Sunday after spending Saturday night sleeping under the stars at 3700'. Snow doesn't start until about 1.25 miles in on the trail. The full moon reflected off the snow so brightly that you didn't need a headlamp. We woke up at 5am and were on the trail by 6am. We only skinned with our skis for a short period of time before strapping them to our backs and hiking the rest of the way to the summit. The bootprints from the previous day were frozen into the snow which made for convenient stairs up the steeper sections of the trail. The snowshoers and hikers with crampons definitely had an advantage on the firm snow. We reached the crater rim around 10:30am and the sun was definitely beginning to soften the snow up. We had perfectly clear skies which offered amazing views. At 11:30am the snow was soft enough to ski on and we rode down. I heard that 260 permits were sold for Sunday and there were definitely a lot of people on the trail. Also a lot of unprepared people - some wearing blue jeans! As we made it back to the car there were still people heading up even though the snow was getting very soft and the risk of loose-wet avalanches was increasing. Be safe out there everyone and be sure to have avalanche equipment with you. Overall this was a trip of a lifetime. Make sure you're in shape for ~6,000 feet of elevation gain over 6 miles on the way up. Or if you're like me just be really persistent and keep moving forward slowly! More pictures and details can be found on our blog: http://bobbyandmaura.com/snowshoeing/mount-st-helens GPX of our trip: http://www.hillmap.com/m/ag1zfmhpbGxtYXAtaGRychULEghTYXZlZE1hcBiAgICAk7TSCAw

AS part of AEX Club (Www.adventure-explorers.com) meetup group , we climbed St Helens via worm flows climbing route. The Trailhead had no snow. Suprise for Jan Winter Weather! Inversion at its best, very warm for this time of the year. We parked at the trailhead, The Trailhead bathrooms are extremely bad and untolerable. The trailhead has a sign on Sno Park permit, few of us didnt had it. didn't know where to buy and was expecting we could buy it in the trailhead. however there is no place to buy it in the trailhead. We didn't get a ticket but I suggest you buy them before. You may be able to get it in lone fir resort. We stayed in lone fir resort cabin previous day to do early start. The first 0.5 miles has no snow. after wards a patch of snow comes and goes. it was manageable while come down around 4pm. however was icy in the morning and spikes would help but can be managed without them. once you cross the quarry and hit swift ski trail the snow starts to get solid. we managed mostly without crampons. the snow is not too deep may be like 2-4 inches. snow all the way to chocalate falls, crossing the gully is little annoying and tricky also coming down this part. but nothing too bad. once you hit 4800 treeline, the snow gets more solid. the ridge is open without snow till the solar station. but there is a valley you can take which has snow. NOT SO GOOD NEWS for SKIERS. they had to walk several places and so many rocks and trees. once above 6000, the snow is icy and mostly hard. in the day time, it softened little bit. 1. Used crampons all the way up. 2. Glissaded atleast 3000- 3500 feet, about 6 chutes Lost a nokia phone, crampons on the trail from our group. No Snowshoes used. we didnt posthole much. no avy danger, not enough snow this year. was very warm and blue skies, see the photos and enjoy! Hope this report is helpful more photos at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10152023308619177&type=1

We camped at the trail head and got an early start. The weather was iffy with fog coming and going. The trail was dry, interesting, and easy to follow to the wormflows climbing route. By staying on the ridge we were able to avoid hitting snow until about 7000' on the way up. The summit ridge was a cold windy and awe inspiring place, with swirling clouds parting occasionally to give views into the steaming crater. We had a fun glissade down to about 5500'. Rain held off until we were back in the car. 12.5 miles, 6000', 9 hours.

stayed at lone fir lodge overnight, and started the hike through the winter route (worm flow) up to the summit (climbers bivuoac is closed this time of year). Registered our hike at lone fir, and we started the hike around 5am with a group of about a dozen people. you pass through the forest with very little elevation gain and pass by campers for around 2 miles before you reach the base of the mountain, where you'll have to either hike up snow or climb through a ridge of boulders and ash. i personally went with the rocks, but had trouble stabilizing my footing on the sand-like ash. some people in our party followed the snow trail just below the rock ridge and said it alot easier. after 2 miles of either scrambling or snow hiking, youll have no choice but to hike up snow for the last mile up to the summit. we just followed the kicked in steps that previous hikers made to go up. once we got up to the top, we avoided the cornice - youll see that its just an overhang of snow, so avoid the temptation of standing on the ledge once you get up. instead, hike to the east for a little bit to get a better view of the lava dome. we glissaded down the snow slopes most of our way down until we reached the rocky parts of the trail. wear waterproof pants and you can glissade down the slopes relatively easily. lift your legs up to increase your speed and dig your boots down to slow down. once you get to a certain point, watch out for rocks embedded in the snow. we had minimal gear, saw many people with ice picks, but don't believe them to be necessary. this was a non technical climb, and the only things that you would need apart from the obvious would be trekking poles, waterproof hiking boots, and gaiters. mountaineering boots aren't needed unless you plan on hiking up snow the entire way.