Mt. St. Helens Climbing conditions

[caverpilot]

Sadly, the USFS climbing conditions page was last updated in NOVEMBER... Has anyone been up on the mountain in the last couple weeks?

 

Trying to find out how long I'm gonna hoof it before I can get on my skis... Expecting the worst, I'll settle for better....

 

The road to climber's bivy is closed/gated. The parking lot at Marble Mountain is snow-free and the trail is ice covered the first couple hundred yards...

 

I'll update this when I return from the lack-of-pow-agony I'm about to endure!

[mthorman]

I climbed St Helens on December 26. Yes parking lot was clear of snow, and trail was ice. And yes the road to climber's bivy was gated. I would say you are going to have to hoof it until about 5000 ft. Passed that the route was covered in hard snow/ice. We were in crampons from that point on. Things didn't get soft by our return down either, even with the sun shining all day. Really thin snow coverage in general when we were there. Good luck, and hopefully you will have nice weather!

[leora]

FYI, I wouldn't expect that anyone will get any skiing in on the mountain. Climbed, yesterday, and it was mostly ice, even when it "warmed up".

 

leora

[caverpilot]

Update: No snow at the trailhead. No skinnable snow below, say, 7500 feet minimum. No snow. It's icy as hell, the entire trail is more or less a sheet of ice, and its the lowest snow conditions I've ever seen... Even the boulder field at Chocolate Falls isn't covered.

 

Icy conditions on the whole climb - 3 accidents on Sunday, one broken foot, two others slipped while eating lunch and fell over 500 feet.

 

NOT A GOOD time to be up there! (I'll head back when I can skin from the parking lot.)

 

In other news, Washington no longer recognizes Oregon Sno Park permits.... bastards!