Elevation
8,365 ft / 2,550 m
Prominence
4,606 ft / 1,404 m
Region
Most climbed route
Highlights
- Mount Saint Helens is an active stratovolcano most famous for its catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980 which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the U.S. 57 people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed.
- A massive debris avalanche caused by the 1980 eruption reduced the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 ft to 8,365 ft and replaced it with a 1 mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater.
- The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was created to preserve the volcano and study its aftermath.
Latest summits
"Started out at Climber's Bivouac and climbed up the Ptarmigan/Monitor Ridge Route. Excellent and demanding non-technical climb with Clara Erickson; harder than I thought it would be given the moving ash/sand during the final mile to the summit. Beautiful hike with a variety of conditions: lower portion through forest with some older growth Douglas firs during the Ptarmigan trail transitioning to the rugged and rocky scramble portion on the ridge and finally the sandy / ash portion. Wear short gators! It keeps the sand and ash out of your shoes /boots." - joeerickson, Aug 24, 2018
"Summit with the crazy Mother's Day crowd. Snow from about 20 minutes from Marble Mountan Sno-Park. Didn't need snow shoes or crampons. 4000 vertical feet of glissading. But some of the really in-cut glissade chutes are so melted out that rocks are starting to show. Watch out." - mathiasricken, May 13, 2018
"Started out in the rain and fog with my friend Sean. Once we got above the clouds we could see Adams and Hood. Gorgeous day with good snow on the way up. Insane views at the top. Rainier looks super intimidating. We could see a mountain southwest of Hood. Jefferson maybe. Snow was uber soft on the way down but we were able to glissade a good ways. " - MatthewWinterberg, May 3, 2017
"This climb holds a special place for us, as it feels like the start of "climbing season" when we are on Mount St. Helens in early spring. This year is the latest that we've done the "winter route," but this was by far the most snow that we've experienced.
The 503 road closure is well documented now, just be sure to leave a bit of extra time to get to the mountain. The detour definitely costs a bit of time, but allows for a different and interesting drive (at least from Seattle), and the road is clear of snow all the way to Marble Mountain Sno Park.
Because of the last minute change in t" - BryHong8, Apr 16, 2017
"My buddy Jared and I--along with 498 of our closest friends--summited Mount St Helens on a bluebird spring day. Left the parking lot at 4:45 AM and reached the top at 10:15. Snow was inconsistent until roughly 3900 feet and we had some false starts with our skis, eventually settling on leaving our skis on our backs and just following the boot pack up. The snow was so slushy outside of the pack that skinning was no easier than hiking. Skiing down was a blast, despite the soggy conditions. I'm glad we didn't dilly dally longer than we did at the top, or I would have been pretty concerned about w" - TynanRammGranberg, May 1, 2016
Awards
Challenges
Nearest peaks
About peakery awards
Log successful summits on peakery to earn awards:
Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.