St. Helens Slog Report or How NOT to Summit MSH - Saturday, April 22nd, 2023

Date: Saturday, April 22, 2023 Location: Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Skakamania County, Washington
Elevation: 8,363 ft (2,549 m) Partners: Alex S., Doug G. Conditions: Overcast, diffuse light. Some stronger wind at times but warm overall. Light precipitation higher up, warm enough to melt and wet through hardshell. Deep, wet snow from recent new snowfall and warmer weather. Postholing for much of the climb and especially bad on the boot/ski trail coming in from the trailhead.
Notable Gear: Alpine (downhill) skis and boots
Report:

Pre-preamble: I wish I got this out earlier this week because I bet everyone and their mother is thinking about going up this weekend with one eye on the temps and avy reports elsewhere. I don’t think there is anything surprising in here but consume anyway if you like. It’s content.

Preamble: I went up St. Helens with a couple friends last Saturday (4/22). We are financially challenged and don’t have touring ski setups (also might be a bit masochistic) so we decided to boot hike it up in mountaineering boots with our ski boots shoved into packs and our downhill skis A-frame-strapped on the sides. Unless you’re keen on some recreational self-flagellation, I would recommend slapping on those skins, clipping into those pin bindings, and stomping on those risers when needed. At the very least bring out the snowshoes.
Conditions: Warm (high-30s F?) with light precip. Wind in the last stretch but not hateful (<20 mph). Mostly foggy with some letup in the afternoon. Steps and skin tracks should be well established by now.

A few notes, tips, and reflections for your consideration:

• The road up to Marble Mountain Sno-Park had a decent bit of snow near the end and a hard packed center “median” that our sedan couldn’t clear. We had to park at the lower Cougar Sno-Park about 3.1 miles from the trailhead. Any vehicle with higher clearance than an Accord should be fine lol. This added some non-trivial, asphalt clomping distance to our hike first thing in the morning. It’s been warm this week and the snow had already melted quite a bit on our way down Sat. afternoon so this may be a non-issue by now.
• Snow on the boot path was wet, heavy and deep. Skinners appeared to have a much easier go of it but us boot boys ended up post-holing a majority of the climb. The deep, heavy snow on the boot trail from the parking lot was the worst for this but some moderate post-holing persisted higher up too. Don’t forget sunscreen friends. And reapply. Diffuse lighting still burns. We were sun-dried tomatoes by the end of it all and are still recovering from the sun damage as we speak…
• Most people skinned/snowshoed to at least the weather station. It’s steeper after that so practice those kick turns but folks ahead of us didn’t seem to have too much trouble. Some opted to pop out of the skis and boot/cramp hike on steeper stretches. I didn’t see much evidence of ski crampons on the way up but maybe one of the skinners can chime in.
• Be wary of the crater rim cornice. Admire it from a polite distance unless you wanna fall into the crater.
• Snow baskets on your poles are nice.
• With the warmth and precip., managing moisture from sweat on the inside and from rain/snow on the outside was key.
• You might like glacier goggles/dark sunglasses (more face ventilation) for the way up and ski goggles for the way down if it gets windier. You’d be alright in glacier goggs and a buff though depending on how tough you are.
• Avy risk was pretty minimal when we went but that snow has been warming up all week and it’s going to be warm all weekend. Snow was fairly consolidated and grade is pretty low most of the climb. Stick to the ridges on the main route. Last weekend you could definitely see where some smaller slides had come down in the distance so pay attention to gullies, couloirs, and steep sections of the terrain. In the end, I’m not the most knowledgeable about snow pack and evaluation of avy risk but proceed with caution re: warmer weather this week and dig a pit if you feel so inclined.

Outro: I’m out of shape, I want to invest in a touring setup, and I really hated post-holing with my downhill setup on my back while skinners shuffled by then raced down, plenty of gas still in the tank. But volcanoes are sick and we bagged it.