Mount St. Helens - Worm Flows Route — Monday, Apr. 28, 2025

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.