Bergamo

Thanks Water & gasper, exactly what happened. Only I stopped as soon as I recognized it was going to be long struggle, especially knowing that I had to do it all in reverse. I was on the first few rocks of the monitor ridge lava flow and as I kept looking up and then down (key mistake) I started to panic. The "exposure" aspect of the barren landscape below also contributed to it. I never reached a snow field so I have no idea how that is either. It became apparent to me that I was in a fight or flight situation. I suspect I have some acrophobia (for some reason it started well into adulthood and only really an issue when flying) but I did not really expect it to stop me cold in my tracks like last Saturday. This is really the issue here. Not so much the technical (so to speak) aspects of the climb, although I will say that scrambling through rocks and boulders is much easier for me without trekking poles and simply using my hands (wearing sturdy grippy gloves). I plan to hit the Portland Rock Gym later this week and start working on "height" conditioning... of course more hikes are in order.

Hello. New to the forum and fairly new to hiking / mountaineering. Last winter after a few snowshoeing day trips with the Mt. St. Helens Institue (MSHI), I decided to take on a new challange and sign up for one of their guided climbs to the top of the Mt. St. Helens rim. So yesterday was the big day. We started out on the south side at Climber's Bivouac and followed the trail to the tree line right before Monitor Ridge. As I started the very first rock / boulder scramble section of Monitor Ridge I realized that it was steeper than I thought and soon found myself taking a long time negotiang my track while getting more and more nervous with every step. I stopped and consulted with the guides about what was still ahead (a lot more of the same, but with no increase in difficulty) and so I decided to bail. I was pretty bummed. I feel like I was up to the task physically, but mentally I was overwhelmed by the fear of getting into a treacherous situation. The guides were awesome and very understanding of my decision (they almost seemed surprised by it). I left my heart on the mountain yesterday and regret giving up so soon. When I signed up I was optimistic given that this is considered a non technical climb (more like a very difficult hike). Now I'm not so sure anymore. Is Mt. St. Helens a suitable summit for a first climb? I am missing a reference point in all this... and I sure feel like I missed out on a great experience Sorry for the long post. Any thoughts or suggestions are very well appreciated, thanks!