April 19, Mount St. Helens

I just learned to ski this year and as this was my first tour on a Volcano I thought I'd share!

My partner and I camped Monday night at the Marble Mountain Sno-Park after a leisurely drive South. We decided to stretch our legs before making camp and walked through the Ape Caves. For those who have never seen them, they are awesome lava tubes you can walk through. The temperature in the cave was also probably 20 degrees cooler than above ground Monday... a delightful break from the heat.

We started hiking at around 5:20 on Tuesday morning. As earlier posts have said, there is a little over a mile of dry trail, although much melted out even throughout the day on Tuesday. I suspect that there will only be a few more weeks before the approach is much longer.

Reached the crater rim a little before 11:30. Skinning conditions were a little challenging for a beginner like me- skins were soaked and slid easily. We did end up skinning the entire way.

There was a light wind that seemed to keep snow conditions good for our descent at Noon. Probably not real corn but the snow certainly offered many fun turns with minimal grabby snow. West facing aspects skied the best and we found the wave features of the Worm Flows to be fun.

Best part of the day was watching my partner, a split boarder, switch to ski mode and ski the long luge/pumptrack down from the creek and back to the trail. Evens the playing field for me.  :)