Mount Saint Helens Climber's Log

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gimpilator

gimpilator - Dec 1, 2008 9:25 am Date Climbed: Nov 30, 2008

Awesome Weather  Sucess!

Most of the snow on Monitor Ridge was melted out. See the trip report with photos. This was my second attempt with OSAT. The first ended short in a blizzard March 17, 2007.

Update: I returned June 6th, 2016 for another ascent with Jennifer Pharr Davis and Heather Anderson. We started early and watched the sunrise from the crater rim. Trip Report

amochka

amochka - Nov 19, 2008 9:52 pm Date Climbed: Nov 18, 2008

4 seasons in one day  Sucess!

Great climb, great people to climb with. Started under overcast skies, went up into haze/fog/mist, walked over snowfields, saw rime ice on the monitor station/rocks, busted through the clouds to wind and then absolutely gorgeous blue skies and sun on the summit with a sea of dense clouds below us. Awesome day.

calebEOC

calebEOC - Oct 27, 2008 1:51 am Date Climbed: Oct 26, 2008

monitor ridge  Sucess!

Wind was fairly wild with near "grey out" conditions at times from the amount of ash & sand being blown off the face of the mountain.

nku - Oct 3, 2008 3:47 pm Date Climbed: Sep 28, 2008

Monitor Ridge  Sucess!

Beautiful day, it was. Absolutely no cloud in sight, no snow on path. We started at 8 at climbers' bivouac and reached the summit at about 1:30. Many climbers made to the top that day. Great adventure!

Deltaoperator17

Deltaoperator17 - Oct 1, 2008 5:46 pm Date Climbed: May 21, 1980

1980 SAR/ Army  Sucess!

More a "decent" and repelling from a Huey. Contracted by Weyerhaeuser recently ETS'd from the Army, getting workers/volunteers that were in trouble with the ash in their lungs or injuries.

greglief

greglief - Sep 13, 2008 11:52 am Date Climbed: Sep 11, 2008

Well worth the effort!  Sucess!

Beautiful clear day... views from Mount Rainier down to the Three Sisters.

lalpinist

lalpinist - Sep 11, 2008 4:37 pm Date Climbed: Sep 8, 2008

Crumbling Rim  Sucess!

Nice day with lots of people. Some in recent days have senselessly written on rocks piled at the peak. On the walk along the rim to the peak and back, there were several rock falls, including one dramatic one close by the peak that kicked up a big dust cloud.

oregonrpa

oregonrpa - Sep 9, 2008 4:43 pm Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2006

First day of reopening  Sucess!

First time to the top and well worth it. I was 12 years old when it erupted in 1980 and remember watching the mushroom cloud from a peak near my house. Can't believe I've never climbed to the rim to peer into the crater before this day. This being the first day the mountain reopened to climbers made it extra special.

vancouver islander

vancouver islander - Sep 6, 2008 12:38 pm Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2008

Worms Flow  Sucess!

Second trip to the top. Road to Climbers' still closed so the winter route it was. Quite a bit longer than Monitor Ridge but very enjoyable and in perfect weather. 6 Hours up and less than 3 down.

My super-duper new GPS recorded a total ascent of 1807 metres versus a TH to summit difference of 1718 metres. No wasted downhills on this one - it's straight up. Round trip distance 16.6 km.

Excellent visibility on top but not quite as stunningly clear as my 2000 visit. Interesting to look down on the new and huge lava dome in the crater compared to 2000.

Walked around the rim to the true summit but were unable to ascend because of dangerous cornices - see this photo.

Don't even think about climbing St H without a permit. We had a lovely visit with a nice ranger whilst on the crater rim. The rangers go up every day in permit season. And very often they catch someone without a permit. At $500 fine each, that's a good source of revenue for the National Forest.

Redwic

Redwic - Sep 2, 2008 9:13 pm Date Climbed: Sep 2, 2008

A Solid Workout With A Big Payoff...  Sucess!

Because I share the same birthday (May 18) as Mount Saint Helens' most famous eruption, although I was exactly three years old when the eruption occurred, I had always wanted to summit the mountain. This has to be the rockiest and sandiest (or should I say "ashiest"?) route I have ever climbed up a mountain, so far. Gorgeous day with spectacular scenery. Looking into the crater, and seeing the devastation of the 1980 eruption up-close, makes the entire trip worth it. Great views of all the nearby volcanoes and other peaks.

BCJ

BCJ - Sep 2, 2008 4:15 am Date Climbed: Apr 4, 2007

Terrible conditions  Sucess!

Climbed the winter route on snowshoes all the way to the top. Miserable conditions with no views and constant rain. This was my third ascent so at least I didn't get up there hoping to see something new.

Jer

Jer - Aug 19, 2008 3:05 pm Date Climbed: Jun 20, 2008

2nd time  Sucess!

This time I made it in the snow. Much better than climbing up the scree!

RAdams

RAdams - Aug 3, 2008 3:12 pm Date Climbed: Jul 3, 1970

Dog's Head  Sucess!

My first climb. See trip report. Being a redhead before sunblock was rough. I used Clown White, that seemed to be the best option at the time, but still got baked. I had blisters all around my mouth. Could barely eat for a week.

msihl

msihl - Jul 30, 2008 12:22 pm Date Climbed: Jul 29, 2008

Normal route, bad weather  Sucess!

Paul, Yafis and I summitted 2 days after we did Rainier in shitty conditions. It was hailing and storming while we went up the summit ridge and the visibility on the summit was about 10 ft. I lost the soles on my (old) hiking boots which made the descent on snow and rock very painful.

irish guy - Jul 16, 2008 5:57 pm Date Climbed: Jan 6, 2008

2 days before foot surgery  Sucess!

Was heading in for foot surgery, so a climb of St Helen's and boarding down had to happen. Great weather, but a ton of snow had fallen down low - lots of postholing.

amochka

amochka - Jul 15, 2008 2:21 pm Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2008

Amazing View of the Fires  Sucess!

Fun day out with friends. Climbers Bivy road/campground still closed due to snow, so took Marble Mtn. sno-park/Worm Flows route up the mountain, which I much prefer now. You avoid the big tedious boulder field of Monitor Ridge. Fires near Mt.Adams grew larger as our climb progressed. Glissaded down every scrap of snow we could find until we couldn't feel our butts! Extra mileage of this route was worth the beautiful views/scenery. Will probably take this route instead of Mon. Ridge in the future.

thefrenchlyon - Jul 11, 2008 8:19 pm Date Climbed: Jul 23, 2006

monitor ridge  Sucess!

two days after it opened, good one time experience, but the ash was a bit annoying...

Steve Rydin

Steve Rydin - Jul 8, 2008 12:19 pm Date Climbed: Jun 12, 2004

Monitor Ridge  Sucess!

What a great day for climbing! The snow conditions were excellent with good steps all the way up (no crampons needed). The glissade down was a blast!

Jakester

Jakester - Jul 7, 2008 12:03 pm Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2008

Winter Route - July 4th, 2008  Sucess!

Left just before 6am from the Marble Mt. Snopark Lot (Winter Route). Fog, clouds, and wind blasted us the entire way up Monitor Ridge. We never broke through the clouds and had to imagine the views from the summit. Fun climb though. Glissaded most of way down to tree line.

BKW

BKW - Jun 22, 2008 9:37 pm Date Climbed: Jun 20, 2008

Worm Flows  Sucess!

With the Climber's Bivouac still snowed in, it was Worm Flows. The weather was great. After climbing this in the snow with a just a few forays onto ash, I'm not sure why anyone would want to climb this without snow. We glissaded all the way down to the timberline.

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