May 7, 2013, St Helens Worm Flows

Went up St. Helen's yesterday via Worm Flows with Jeffrey and by chance ran into an acquaintance on the way up and got to ski down with him.  Bootpacked ~30 minutes before continuous snow for skinning.  Had some fog at the treeline, the first hint of precipitation I've seen around here for weeks.  The air was very humid, would've been a good place to stash some cigars for the ski out. Eventually the snow got too mushy and we boot packed the last 2-3 miles.  Corn close to the crater rim was excellent, quickly became very heavy and mushy.  Some sluff slid slightly/slowly, nothing too dangerous on these aspects but we still went down one at a time.  The ski out in the trees was slow, jerky, and I think we had the wrong wax on.  Made it back to the car to drink some Silvretta Slow Pour (a homemade stout) and found the only use for the ice axe that day.

The snow is melting fast, considering reports that the snow reached the trailhead as recently as 3 days prior (http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=28450.0).  The Mother's Day skiing-in-drag will be rough this year!