Dec 2, 09 Mt St Helens photos added
12/15/09
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
5187
8
Here's the short report:
The skiing wasn't great but the snowpack looked bomber. At higher elevations we found both boilerplate ice and a 1/2 inch, wind-polished, breakable crust which covered 1-2 inches of softer snow. Below this was a solid mass of well frozen snow, apparently all the way to the deck. We made a couple of ski cuts at the top of the steeper bowls to no effect. There were also a couple of small releases from cornice collapse but nothing propagated. Lower down it was just a solid mass, hard frozen. Good coverage on the route and approach trail after the first trail junction. The usual exposed rock on the ridgelines higher up, the gullies are all well filled. The road to Marble Mtn is currently dry, but the parking lot is only partially plowed at the moment.
If you would like narrative:
With the bluebird skies and stable snowpack, we had high hopes for Helens on Wednesday. While the weather delivered, the snow never did.
Andrew and I left Marble Mountain at 8:00 with the planks on our backs as the first 50-75 yards of the trail are muddy. After that, we kept them on the packs because the rest of the approach trail was frozen into a rutted, post-holed mess.
Breaking out of the trees, the snow was still frozen, so we continued booting. By 11:30 the snow was starting to soften up promisingly, though not enough yet to make us stop and don skis. We toiled our way up to the rim, visions of hero corn in our heads.
As we got higher, the softening stopped and the snow switched back to hard pack with shallow pockets of wind blown on top. We "summited" and lounged at the crater rim with Dave, a fellow TAYer, (hi Dave!) who was out for the day with his hound. Not a breath of wind and bright sun made the crater rim the most comfortable place we stopped all day. After waiting for 30 minutes for the snow to (hopefully) shape up further, we headed down.
Yikes, breakable crust alternating with windblown snow over ice led to very challenging skiing and the corn spotted earlier was now nowhere to be seen. We tried several aspects of the ridges but couldn't find decent snow anywhere. The sun had been on this stuff all day, but apparently it re-froze shortly after it's brief melt earlier.
After a punishing and marginally enjoyable ski down to tree line, we grimly faced the frozen turd that was the spine-jarring bobsled run back to the car.
All in all, a beautiful day to be out in the mountains, but it was not great skiing, to put it mildly. To be fair, there was another group who were on a ridge farther east and they reported finding patches of decent snow there, but still far from the 1" of tasty corn we were all expecting that day.
Photos now added, courtesy of Brotha Lynch.
The skiing wasn't great but the snowpack looked bomber. At higher elevations we found both boilerplate ice and a 1/2 inch, wind-polished, breakable crust which covered 1-2 inches of softer snow. Below this was a solid mass of well frozen snow, apparently all the way to the deck. We made a couple of ski cuts at the top of the steeper bowls to no effect. There were also a couple of small releases from cornice collapse but nothing propagated. Lower down it was just a solid mass, hard frozen. Good coverage on the route and approach trail after the first trail junction. The usual exposed rock on the ridgelines higher up, the gullies are all well filled. The road to Marble Mtn is currently dry, but the parking lot is only partially plowed at the moment.
If you would like narrative:
With the bluebird skies and stable snowpack, we had high hopes for Helens on Wednesday. While the weather delivered, the snow never did.
Andrew and I left Marble Mountain at 8:00 with the planks on our backs as the first 50-75 yards of the trail are muddy. After that, we kept them on the packs because the rest of the approach trail was frozen into a rutted, post-holed mess.
Breaking out of the trees, the snow was still frozen, so we continued booting. By 11:30 the snow was starting to soften up promisingly, though not enough yet to make us stop and don skis. We toiled our way up to the rim, visions of hero corn in our heads.
As we got higher, the softening stopped and the snow switched back to hard pack with shallow pockets of wind blown on top. We "summited" and lounged at the crater rim with Dave, a fellow TAYer, (hi Dave!) who was out for the day with his hound. Not a breath of wind and bright sun made the crater rim the most comfortable place we stopped all day. After waiting for 30 minutes for the snow to (hopefully) shape up further, we headed down.
Yikes, breakable crust alternating with windblown snow over ice led to very challenging skiing and the corn spotted earlier was now nowhere to be seen. We tried several aspects of the ridges but couldn't find decent snow anywhere. The sun had been on this stuff all day, but apparently it re-froze shortly after it's brief melt earlier.
After a punishing and marginally enjoyable ski down to tree line, we grimly faced the frozen turd that was the spine-jarring bobsled run back to the car.
All in all, a beautiful day to be out in the mountains, but it was not great skiing, to put it mildly. To be fair, there was another group who were on a ridge farther east and they reported finding patches of decent snow there, but still far from the 1" of tasty corn we were all expecting that day.
Photos now added, courtesy of Brotha Lynch.
Great to hang out with you guys on the summit! You describe the conditions better than I could - beautiful day but disappointing snow for the most part.
Here are a few pictures I took of you guys and the mountain...
Here are a few pictures I took of you guys and the mountain...
Sweet pictures DG! Looks like you and your pooch had a good day in the sunshine ;)
great tr .. thx!
Sounds like a great character builder day, well documented. Nice weather and stunning views though for sure. I'd love to check the place out some time. It must be a bit surreal? How far is it from the nearest big city?
Portland is about 60-70 miles from St. Helens.
Great report! Thanks. I have yet to do this climb, but a buddy and I are planning on doing it soon. I've also heard that this is a good area to do some snowkiting. Can you give me some info on how far and how long it took you to get up above the trees to an area that would be open enough to ride around with a kite?
There is an open area between the treeline and the steeper slopes, right around where the Loowit trail crosses the climbing route. You can see it (from above) in the second photo I posted, and in the first picture that DG posted. I think that this is between 4-5,000' and 2-3 miles in. Some map work (that I'm too lazy to do) could probably give you the exact numbers.
For what it's worth...I've never kite boarded, so I don't know how much space you need. But you might find the open area at the bottom of the Worm Flows a bit small. I don't know how tough it would be to get there, but I think that the old lahar area just southwest of Ape Cave would offer more open space. You might even be able to get a ride up the 83 road from a sledder at the Marble Mountain snowpark.
For what it's worth...I've never kite boarded, so I don't know how much space you need. But you might find the open area at the bottom of the Worm Flows a bit small. I don't know how tough it would be to get there, but I think that the old lahar area just southwest of Ape Cave would offer more open space. You might even be able to get a ride up the 83 road from a sledder at the Marble Mountain snowpark.
Thanks for the tip. I think I have figured out the general area that you are talking about for the "old lahar area". I was just talking with another guy and he said the best kiting location is the Plains of Abraham. I'll have to get up there and do some exploring and climbing.
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