Well, This was kind. Day hike, Long day including driving. Started Ski-Skiing from 2600 feet elevation. Marble Mt. Snow Park. So this is 1200 more from summer climb from Climbers bivouac. Weather awesome, probably 60-70 peoples more on trail. mostly with skies on. Understandable...may, June is best as well. Going inside trees was to easy. sun protection and relatively flat, slow elevation gain. Around 2 hours to the tries line. After tries line to the summit takes me 3 more hours. In the Summit little windy and cold.My jackets paid of here. Few pictures and short brake to get food. then skiing down...uhuhaaaaaaaaaaa.Firs half snow was nice , then second half was sticky. But still was able to ski all way to the car. I had purchased permit but I forgot in my car. No one check by my filling was little disrupted.

Conditions here are very changeable. On Saturday, footing went from decent to mushy and avvy danger went from non-existent to "maybe" in six hours. Be prepared for anything! Snow was continuous from the trailhead to the crater rim. Things started off relatively firm in the morning, but as soon as the sun hit the slopes (and did it hit the slopes - what a day!), things started softening up. Still, there was a nice string of kicksteps almost to the top. The last 500 vertical were pretty icy and wouldn't take much of a step on the way up. Skiers (who far outnumbered climbers) were losing traction on their skins at the very top. On the way down, even the top was soft enough to take deep steps. Things got mushier and mushier the further down you went. The steepest section of the climb looked like it could potentially slide (anything east facing was subject to wet slides). By the 4,500 foot level, anyone without snowshoes or skis was plunging hip deep with every step. Cornices seemed pretty firm at the top, but who knows when that will change? With clear skies in all directions, the views were incredible - everyone on the trail was grinning from ear to ear.

Was out surfing on saturday and the weather was so nice I knew I needed to take advantage of it and climb something. I had been thinking about St. Helens for a while so decided to go for it. I wanted to be back in time for the Super Bowl on Sunday so I drove out Saturday night and camped at the trailhead at Marble Mountain Sno-Park. Set the alarm for 4 and was on the trail by 4:30. Summited at around 9, hung around up top for a bit and back down by 12. Didn't seem like there has been any snow recently as everything was very packed and icy. I didn't even put on snowshoes until above tree line (about 3 miles in) and even then it was just for traction and not flotation. Had an ice axe with me as well but never needed it on the ascent, although I would definitely recommend bringing one just in case. The climb was pretty tough and I was hurting a bit towards the end but the view at the summit is worth it a million times over. So cool. I can't wait to go back up again in summer and see everything in the crater without the snow cover. more photos at http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10781

On Monday the forecast suggested it might be a sunny weekend so with fingers crossed I waited for the week to flow by, thinking about how cool it would be to finally pay Mt. St. Helens a visit during winter time, and then when the sun still shined on me from the NOAA web site, and avalanche conditions were favorable, I decided to give it a go and started planning. Looked for recent trail report, put a group together, called Lone Fir Resort.... Initially I considered climbing part of the route on Saturday, camping somewhere below the timber line, and then attempting the summit on Sunday, but not having any previous snow camping experience, in the end I opted to spend the night in a comfort of a warm cabin. Then Friday came, and after what seemed a never-ending day at work, we set up on our journey. The drive to Cougar was, except for fighting Seattle's Friday night traffic, rather uneventful, and we arrived at Lone Fir around 9:30 p.m. The only recent report written in the log book at the climber's register was from earlier that day and suggested that that particular group of 2 had to abandon the climb after they were unable to reach Marble Mount Snow Park due to large amount of snow on the road approximately 2 miles from the snow park. Not too encouraging but hoping the road got plowed later in the day or will be plowed before the morning, we lay down to get some rest before out climb. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The road from Cougar was in a good shape as we sliced through the darkness of the frosty Saturday morning witnessing the awakening of the new day. Mist skimmed the surface of Swift Reservoir, silhouettes of hills stood against the pre-dawn blue, then soft colors of sunrise stroke across the sky. We arrived to Marble Mount shortly after 7:00 a.m. The road was not plowed but there was hardly any snow on it. The group from yesterday must have accidentally turn on a wrong road (perhaps the one to Climber's Bivouac). Quick gear up and we were on our way. We started on snow right from the trailhead but with several groups ahead of us, the trail was packed and had good traction. The first part of the winter route leading on gentle ski trails was a nice warm up. Once we broke from the trees, that's where the work started. Luckily there were good steps kicked in making the steepest part much easier. Admiring the beauty of the snow capped mountain, we proceeded up in a steady moderate pace with occasional breaks for photo ops and hydration. Most of the route was in a great condition with no traction needed to about 6200 ft. That's where the slope got wind blasted and at spots covered with a sheet of ice of which the rays of sunshine reflected and sparkled. The ice became more serious as we climbed higher, and majority of the upper 800 feet was covered by it. The summit could safely and easily gained with crampons and ice axe, the sound of the ice layer crushing under our feel was a sweet music to our ears. Needless to say it was scary to see people tiptoeing their way up in Yak Trax supporting themselves by ski poles. As usually the summit was windy, and man, when the wind picked up, it was strong but despite the wind it was by far the best conditions I ever experienced on this mountain. Unlike the other times I was up here, this time the wind would take an occasional break, and even when wheezing by, it did not blast the typical sandy ash grains into our faces which was very nice and gave us an opportunity to stay at the summit for decent amount of time. The snow was much softer on our way down. We chose mot to glisade considering the icy sections, and when we got lower, we postholed our way the last mile or so of the ridge back to the ski trails. From there it was a long, but easy stretch back to the snow park. An awesome day to be out there. GPS stats: 10.4 miles, 5746 ft el. gain

Left the TH at 6am to try and beat the heat of midday (no luck with that as you will see). There is snow on the trail about 1 mile in. There are dirt patches, but mostly just snow. The snow stops just before the crossing at Chocolate Falls (Swift Creek). There is no snow on the trail from here to the treeline. At this point you can follow the ridge (which is snow free) or trudge through the snow. After about 5000' you will be all the way to the top. We reach the top in about 8 hours (at a very conservative pace) and spent 30 chilly minutes at the top. STAY OFF THE CORNICE! We were able to glissade just about all the way back to the treeline. Snow conditions were a little concerning, but not alarming. Snow was melting fast by the end of the day so try to do most of your climbing in the morning before it warms up. There were a number of holes opening up in the snow and I saw a good amount of snow sloughing off the steeper areas. Snow was quite wet at all elevations, with the exception of a few icy patches. Used crampons for extra stability, but they weren't necessary. Snowshoes wouldn't have been much of a help either. There were tracks all the way to top that could be followed. Snow appeared to melting quickly so things will be changing quite a bit over the next few days.