Mount St. Helens - Worm Flows Route — Friday, Jan. 1, 2016

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

My girlfriend and I were looking for a proper way to kick off 2016, and since we both had a winter climb of Helens on our list and the forecast was favorable, we felt there was no better time than New Years day. We stayed in Cougar the night before knowing that we had an early start ahead of us. While weather was a concern, the road into Marble Mountain Snow Park was garnering most of my attention. I loaded my cables and a shovel into the car just in case but felt pretty comfortable with my Lancer being able to make the drive in as long as the road was covered in compact snow. Road was clear until about seven miles out of the parking lot, then we began to see ice on the roadway, a mile or so further in, it was mostly compact snow with stretches of ice. My car made it fairly easily but it is front wheel drive and I have all terrain tires on it. I also have just a bit of experience driving in snow (yes, a bit of sarcasm there. I have driven in snow. A lot.). I will say that once we were down from the mountain and driving back home, we saw all kinds of inexperienced drivers doing very dumb things along this road. Unfortunately, they are hazard not only to themselves but to others on the road. Once again, people assuming that there AWD vehicles are immune to sliding were the main culprit. There is plenty of snow at the TH to just strap on your snowshoes and go. The trail for the most part is well marked and also very broken in. We made good time up this trail, looking forward to getting above the trees and into the sun and scenery. There was a bit of apprehension as we could hear the wind blowing fairly strong through the treetops. Once we broke out of the trees and got near Chocolate Falls, we could see the wind was going to be a factor. We had run into several groups that had already turned around. One gentlemen went so far as to say the wind had nearly knocked him down a few times. But we trudged onwards, often looking up to see the spindrift blowing off the mountain ridges and crater rim. The trail was still well broken in and easy to follow despite the wind. While we noted several areas that had recent avalanches, and there were some signs of slabs, the route itself was on safe ground. Unfortunately, the wind began to become more and more of a factor as we not only struggled against the climb itself, but the force of the wind. The infrequent gusts had become almost a constant dull roar and often we had to stop and plant ourselves to keep from being blown over. We took a break near the giant sign that says "permit required" just a short way up the ridge. Hidden from the wind behind a massive boulder, we were optimistic about continuing the climb and having a chance at the crater rim. We did however, take note that a group that was ahead of us seemed to be crawling. After refueling, we begin to climb again. The snow was dense enough at this point that it would have probably been an easier option to ditch the snowshoes and go to crampons. It was at this point though that the wind knocked me over. As I lay laughing at myself in the snow, I realized that at the rate we were going, we would be descending most of this in the dark and that wasn't high on my list of things to do. We made the call to turn around and we not alone in our decision. It seemed most who had the intent to climb the mountain were making the call to turn around. We took our time, snapping pictures and admiring the shapes in the snow made by the wind. Eventually we got back down to the parking lot which resembled a parking lot at an outdoor rock concert. Gear I would recommend; snowshoes, trekking poles, traction devices, ice axe (I had my whippet). Then obviously, whatever layering system works for you given the weather forecast.