RVcruzer.com - Mount St. Helens - The Climb to the Summit

Mount St. Helens is once again open for climbing. I climbed the mountain on July 1st, 2004. After the October 2004 resurgence it was closed to climbing because of the threat of ash fallout. After two years the mountain was once again reopened to climbing. Climbing permits must be obtained in advance and they are limited to 100 permits per day. Climbing Mount St. Helens is unlike any other mountain climb. Technical gear is not required. There is no hard face climbing. Yet it's not walk in the park either. The most popular route is the Monitor Ridge route. This route starts at the Climber's Bivouac and begins as an uphill hike through the forest via the Ptarmigan Trail. As you leave tree line the landscape changes to a series of large rocks, called Hummocks, deposited by the May 1980 eruption. The trek now becomes more of a scramble as you use your hands to help climb and crawl over the large rocks. As you progress farther snowfields appear and if you have crampons and hiking poles you can make better time in the snowfields but you will need those steel crampons on your boots to prevent slipping on the 45 degree slope. Eventually you'll arrive at the last 1,800'. This is the pumice section and the entire area is covered with small pumice grit, which makes it very much like walking on ball bearings. You'll need hiking poles for this section and you'll take two steps forward and slide back one. To me, this was the most grueling part of the trip.

The Ptarmigan Trail ends after you finish your hike through the forest. At this point the fertile soil that sustains trees gives way to Hummocks. This volcanic rock is surrounded by pumice and your journey now kicks into low gear as you slowly work your way across it.

As you near the end of the tree line we saw clouds rolling in to blanket the surrounding land below us. Not visible from the land below, Mount Hood can be seen in the distance to the south. Mount Hood is located in Oregon, on the south side of the Columbia River gorge about 40 miles away.

This close-up of Mount Hood, taken from the same position as the previous image, was shot with a zoom lens as it's tip peaks out through the surrounding clouds. This mountain is a popular climb, and is a more traditional snow covered mountain climb, compared to Mount St. Helens. Mount Hood is also a volcano but the last major eruption was during the Lewis and Clark expedition and it's "sleeping", for the moment anyway.

Monitor Ridge is littered with Hummocks from the 1980 eruption. It's the best route during summer because the surrounding slopes are steep and slippery. The hummocks of Monitor Ridge allow the climbers to zig zag back and forth with firm terrain underneath their feet.

The weather on Mount St. Helens can be unpredictable. What starts out as a sunny morning may turn into a snowstorm mid-day with white out conditions. You need to be prepared to wait out any inclement weather and be equipped to keep warm and dry while it passes. Even on this beautiful summer day, the clouds were present in the morning as we passed through them.

The Hummocks section seems to never end. You'll spend the majority of your time navigating through them. Occasionally a saddle like this opens up where you can make a bit better time.

There is no specific trail on Monitor Ridge and climbers tend to spread out and pick their own routes. However, the most popular route is marked by large wooden posts so you can always keep them in view so that you don't veer to far away from the ridge. If the clouds move in you'll want to keep a close eye on these markers.

Eventually the Hummocks give way to a few snowfields. These snow fields are small but scattered throughout the hummocks area of the climb and can let you pick up some time if you are equipped to walk through them. This is not a tennis shoe kind of hike.

Larger snowfields and glaciers can offer an even great rate of ascent. To handle these you will need crampons for traction as well as hiking poles. Gators are also useful to snow from piling up inside your hiking boots whenever you sink in. These fields can be steep and slippery so if you are not equipped you'd better stick to the rock ridges.

Finally! At the rim. Even on July 1st the snow cornice on the rim is substantial. Climbers are warned to stay off this cornice because portions frequently break free and slide into the crater without people walking on them so it's not a good idea to walk out farther for a closer look. Near the end of summer this cornice has melted away and you'll get an even better view of the crater's interior and the lava dome. It can still be seen from spots on the rim though, even if the cornice exists. Behind the hikers you can see the pumice but this area is not as slippery because the wind blows most of the loose stuff away near the rim.

Once at the rim, you can see Mount Hood to the south, Mount Adams to the east, and Mount Rainier to the north. You could see the Pacific Ocean in the far west but the overcast area near the coast did not make that possible this day. Mount Rainer is typically hidden from view from the land blow but once you are up over the clouds, the view is really amazing.

Monitor Ridge is a rocky ridge, interspersed with small snow fields. Immediately to the east of Monitor Ridge is a glacier. This can make for a quick descent to tree line if you have the proper climbing gear. Another popular descent methods is to glissade down through the snowfields to the west. The glacier is too long to safely glissade but if you bring head protection and something to slide on you can drastically cut your descent time when glissading. You'll find that you spend more time looking for and traversing to the next glissade chute than you do actually glissading. Be aware though that the snow contains abrasive pumice and you will destroy your snow suit after sliding on it so be sure to bring an old one.

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Mount St Helens

The Climb to the Summit