Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: June 6, 2004
We had thunder and lightning the night before but it cleared by 8pm. My buddy and I hit the the trail by 4am and had clear skies with a very small bit of wind for the whole trip up.
The ridges were all exposed and crampons were nice to have (especially earlier in the am) but were not necessary. We summited by 9:30am with about twenty others and spent about half an hour there looking around.
Glissaded down... the best!... and returned to the car by 11:30am to watch another system of thunder and lightning roll in. Great times!
Route Climbed: monitor ridge Date Climbed: 6-4-2004
awesome day, real warm from the beginning. snow starts right at the trailhead. ridges are open almost all of the way up. little to no wind until the summit. excellent view from the top. glacading was awesome all of the way down.
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: May 18, 1994
Bivied in the parking lot, and up at the crack o' dawn to summit in crystal clear blue skies. Super fun glissade back down. Gotta do that one again sometime, just for the ride down. Snowboard maybe?
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Route Date Climbed: April 4, 2004
Started out at 4:00am from Marble Mountain Snow Park. I had my snowboard and was looking forward to a good ride down. Snow pretty much started from the trailhead. Snow was very firm early on and once above treeline, we cramponed up. Made easy going until about 500 vertical feet from the summit when we got steady wind of about 35-40 mph. We pushed on and when we reached the summit, the wind had died down. We made the summit in 5hr 20 min. Beautiful day and we could see as far as Mt. Jefferson to the south. The sun was warming up the slopes pretty fast and I had a blast going down.
Route Climbed: Worm flows Date Climbed: April 3rd, 2004
Sunny day with no winds. Climbed with Aish and John. Started at 8:15 am, reached the summit 2:00pm. Glidased all the way. Snow was soft. Had to use snow shoes on the trail in the woods.
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: March 23, 2004
I left the Marble Mountain Sno-Park around 12:30 and summited at 6:50AM. The top was pretty windy, so i didn't stick around as long as I normally would, but I did see yet another beautiful sunrise with the summit to myself. I had to wait a little longer than anticipated for the snow to soften up for glissading, which made for some pretty slow going at first, but once it warmed up I had a nice glissade down. I saw 10 people and 1 dog going up as I was going down. Not dealing with the huge crowds on the Monitor Ridge route later in the season made the added work of this route well worth doing.
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: July 1998
Summitted in a white out. Couldn't see a thing, almost walked off into the crater, but the clouds cleared just in time! I'm sure the view is normally awesome from the top (well, at least what's now the top).
Started early on skis from Marble Mount. Was surprised to hit hard ice at 5000', so had to ditch the skis since I didn't want to carry my extra heavy ancient skis. From that point on it was 3000' front pointing in heavy ski boots, ouch! Windy but great summit views, midday the snow turned into mush and wish I had carried my skis up, oh well had a fun glissade and skied the rest. Always a fun mountain.
Monitor Ridge (May 24, 2003)
Last year carrying skis was painful, so this time will had to try randonee boots and skins. This IS the way to go! Took us few years to figure out how to best climb this mountian :) Skined all the way to the top pleasently. On the way down, weather changed into white-out conditions took some narrow gullies back into the forest and back to Climbers bivy.
Worm Flows (May 11, 2002)
First ski attempt. Climbed in Koflachs and carried heavy! alpine ski boots and pair of skis along with the usual gear. Man it was heavy. Slow and painful going but made it to the top. Skied all the way down to the parking lot, that was worth the carry.
Monitor Ridge (August 25, 2000)
This time took few friends up the mountain. No snow and lots of scree. My friends had real hard time scrambling up and down the rocky part. Group got separated, cold wind made it very hard to wait for the rest of the group. One guy didn't have a jacket so had to shuttle back down and up to get some clothing from the rest of the group. Will not do this this late in the season again.
Worm Flows (May 21, 2000)
My second attempt after my first failed attempt back in 1997, when I was foolish enough to push on with a tent tarp instead of a real jacket in a storm. Very slow going becuase not being in good enough shape and soft snow. Standing at the edge of the crater and looking down was impressive.
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: March, 20, 2004 saturday
Started from Mount Marble snow park at 6:45 am. Reached the summit at 12:20. During the climb up, it was icy on the ridge, however on the way back, it all melted. Weather was sunny all day. Other than the noise of snow mobiles, close to the snow park, It was as a wonderful. climb.
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: March 10, 2004
A winter cloudless day with a spring-feel and firm snow until the sun softened it just before noon. This was my first solo trip in the winter and was well worth it even though I didn't ski down. Hamstrings cramped an hour down from the summit but rest, stretching, and food helped to subside the painful cramps. Snowshoed all the way up using MSR Denali Evo Ascent (highly recommend), and as the snow became quite soft the shoes were useful on the descent also. Cornices were very evident. Even though I was about 40 ft. back from the rim, I heard it cracking. Not a comforting sound. Be aware! Stay far away from the summit cornice, especially when the sun is shining.
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge / Worm Flows Date Climbed: September 2000 and March 2002
First climbed St. Helens via Monitor Ridge in September 2000. Easy hike starting from the parking lot. We had a whiteout near the crater which made things interesting.
Second climb via Worm Flows route. It was early spring (March 2002) so I took my snowboard up and had 4000 ft. descent on descent snow. This was fun. I highly recommend it.
Route Climbed: Monitor ridge variation Date Climbed: Spring 1997
We had come to the mountain without crampons or ice axes to find the ridge route covered with a thick layer of ice. Undeterred, we dropped into a snow gully, climbed up with some traversing and were the only ones to make it that day.
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: Feb 21 2004
Our rag tag group of Willamette law students made it to the top on a windy but great day. The snow was pretty soft on the way down and required snowshoes. We camped at the treeline and had a great time. We now move on to Adams. My homemade pulk worked great except when the trail was too steep.
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge, Variation Date Climbed: July 23, 2002
Instead of sloging w/ the masses over the boulder field we scrambled fthe snow fields to the left & right when ever possible. Much easier on the knees, less body dodging and the best solution for my brother's first ever summit attempt. He was totally committed to his first climb. Diet program to shed 115 lbs. and & training for nine months had its rewards in a succesfull summit bid. Could not have asked for a better weather day even w/ the herd of people also on the attempt.
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: February 8th, 2004
Packed skis up to the summit on an unusually warm, somewhat clear day. More people climbing than I would have expected. Very little wind on top and after pictures taken, skied all the way down to the parking lot. Would definately been easier if I owned skins but convinced myself it was great exercise.
Soup - Jun 20, 2004 7:46 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: June 6, 2004We had thunder and lightning the night before but it cleared by 8pm. My buddy and I hit the the trail by 4am and had clear skies with a very small bit of wind for the whole trip up.
The ridges were all exposed and crampons were nice to have (especially earlier in the am) but were not necessary. We summited by 9:30am with about twenty others and spent about half an hour there looking around.
Glissaded down... the best!... and returned to the car by 11:30am to watch another system of thunder and lightning roll in. Great times!
modeboy - Jun 8, 2004 11:29 am
Route Climbed: monitor ridge Date Climbed: 6-4-2004awesome day, real warm from the beginning. snow starts right at the trailhead. ridges are open almost all of the way up. little to no wind until the summit. excellent view from the top. glacading was awesome all of the way down.
seth - Apr 30, 2004 7:04 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: May 18, 1994Bivied in the parking lot, and up at the crack o' dawn to summit in crystal clear blue skies. Super fun glissade back down. Gotta do that one again sometime, just for the ride down. Snowboard maybe?
Moni - Apr 9, 2004 6:39 pm
Route Climbed: Forsyth Glacier Date Climbed: 8 June 1975With Fred Spicker.
Nothing like climbing a limited edition route - certainly never expected to have it become part of our garden!
esugi - Apr 5, 2004 11:09 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Route Date Climbed: April 4, 2004Started out at 4:00am from Marble Mountain Snow Park. I had my snowboard and was looking forward to a good ride down. Snow pretty much started from the trailhead. Snow was very firm early on and once above treeline, we cramponed up. Made easy going until about 500 vertical feet from the summit when we got steady wind of about 35-40 mph. We pushed on and when we reached the summit, the wind had died down. We made the summit in 5hr 20 min. Beautiful day and we could see as far as Mt. Jefferson to the south. The sun was warming up the slopes pretty fast and I had a blast going down.
e.acar - Apr 4, 2004 1:05 pm
Route Climbed: Worm flows Date Climbed: April 3rd, 2004Sunny day with no winds. Climbed with Aish and John. Started at 8:15 am, reached the summit 2:00pm. Glidased all the way. Snow was soft. Had to use snow shoes on the trail in the woods.
cmc56789 - Mar 24, 2004 8:27 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: March 23, 2004I left the Marble Mountain Sno-Park around 12:30 and summited at 6:50AM. The top was pretty windy, so i didn't stick around as long as I normally would, but I did see yet another beautiful sunrise with the summit to myself. I had to wait a little longer than anticipated for the snow to soften up for glissading, which made for some pretty slow going at first, but once it warmed up I had a nice glissade down. I saw 10 people and 1 dog going up as I was going down. Not dealing with the huge crowds on the Monitor Ridge route later in the season made the added work of this route well worth doing.
Chris - Mar 22, 2004 10:43 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: July 1998Summitted in a white out. Couldn't see a thing, almost walked off into the crater, but the clouds cleared just in time! I'm sure the view is normally awesome from the top (well, at least what's now the top).
hkutuk - Mar 22, 2004 2:07 pm
Route Climbed: Multiple Date Climbed: MultipleWorm Flows (March 20, 2004)
Started early on skis from Marble Mount. Was surprised to hit hard ice at 5000', so had to ditch the skis since I didn't want to carry my extra heavy ancient skis. From that point on it was 3000' front pointing in heavy ski boots, ouch! Windy but great summit views, midday the snow turned into mush and wish I had carried my skis up, oh well had a fun glissade and skied the rest. Always a fun mountain.
Monitor Ridge (May 24, 2003)
Last year carrying skis was painful, so this time will had to try randonee boots and skins. This IS the way to go! Took us few years to figure out how to best climb this mountian :) Skined all the way to the top pleasently. On the way down, weather changed into white-out conditions took some narrow gullies back into the forest and back to Climbers bivy.
Worm Flows (May 11, 2002)
First ski attempt. Climbed in Koflachs and carried heavy! alpine ski boots and pair of skis along with the usual gear. Man it was heavy. Slow and painful going but made it to the top. Skied all the way down to the parking lot, that was worth the carry.
Monitor Ridge (August 25, 2000)
This time took few friends up the mountain. No snow and lots of scree. My friends had real hard time scrambling up and down the rocky part. Group got separated, cold wind made it very hard to wait for the rest of the group. One guy didn't have a jacket so had to shuttle back down and up to get some clothing from the rest of the group. Will not do this this late in the season again.
Worm Flows (May 21, 2000)
My second attempt after my first failed attempt back in 1997, when I was foolish enough to push on with a tent tarp instead of a real jacket in a storm. Very slow going becuase not being in good enough shape and soft snow. Standing at the edge of the crater and looking down was impressive.
e.acar - Mar 21, 2004 10:00 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: March, 20, 2004 saturdayStarted from Mount Marble snow park at 6:45 am. Reached the summit at 12:20. During the climb up, it was icy on the ridge, however on the way back, it all melted. Weather was sunny all day. Other than the noise of snow mobiles, close to the snow park, It was as a wonderful. climb.
mradventure - Mar 15, 2004 2:59 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: March 10, 2004A winter cloudless day with a spring-feel and firm snow until the sun softened it just before noon. This was my first solo trip in the winter and was well worth it even though I didn't ski down. Hamstrings cramped an hour down from the summit but rest, stretching, and food helped to subside the painful cramps. Snowshoed all the way up using MSR Denali Evo Ascent (highly recommend), and as the snow became quite soft the shoes were useful on the descent also. Cornices were very evident. Even though I was about 40 ft. back from the rim, I heard it cracking. Not a comforting sound. Be aware! Stay far away from the summit cornice, especially when the sun is shining.
esugi - Mar 7, 2004 12:13 am
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge / Worm Flows Date Climbed: September 2000 and March 2002First climbed St. Helens via Monitor Ridge in September 2000. Easy hike starting from the parking lot. We had a whiteout near the crater which made things interesting.
Second climb via Worm Flows route. It was early spring (March 2002) so I took my snowboard up and had 4000 ft. descent on descent snow. This was fun. I highly recommend it.
flybigsky - Mar 4, 2004 3:44 pm
Route Climbed: standard Date Climbed: summer 1998Hot and dusty but excellent clear view from the summit. Wish we could of climbed before the eruption.
derbilly - Feb 24, 2004 5:07 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor ridge variation Date Climbed: Spring 1997We had come to the mountain without crampons or ice axes to find the ridge route covered with a thick layer of ice. Undeterred, we dropped into a snow gully, climbed up with some traversing and were the only ones to make it that day.
jbbang - Feb 23, 2004 6:03 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: Feb 21 2004Our rag tag group of Willamette law students made it to the top on a windy but great day. The snow was pretty soft on the way down and required snowshoes. We camped at the treeline and had a great time. We now move on to Adams. My homemade pulk worked great except when the trail was too steep.
Zarn - Feb 17, 2004 3:28 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge, Variation Date Climbed: July 23, 2002Instead of sloging w/ the masses over the boulder field we scrambled fthe snow fields to the left & right when ever possible. Much easier on the knees, less body dodging and the best solution for my brother's first ever summit attempt. He was totally committed to his first climb. Diet program to shed 115 lbs. and & training for nine months had its rewards in a succesfull summit bid. Could not have asked for a better weather day even w/ the herd of people also on the attempt.
Z1
Zarn - Feb 17, 2004 3:17 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: Sept. 27, 1997Hot, dusty good to get up & get out.
Jeff H - Feb 13, 2004 6:15 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: February 8th, 2004Packed skis up to the summit on an unusually warm, somewhat clear day. More people climbing than I would have expected. Very little wind on top and after pictures taken, skied all the way down to the parking lot. Would definately been easier if I owned skins but convinced myself it was great exercise.
farkenclimbin - Feb 10, 2004 8:43 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: May of 2003Had a great time on this mountain. Everyone should do this one!
IceAxe18 - Jan 16, 2004 5:12 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: October 12, 2003Bad Weather, didn't summit.