"32nd summit I've climbed. An incredible day hike, everything a beginner mountaineer could look for on a climb: big elevation gain, steep snow climbs, steep rocky scrambles, and incredible glissading. Overall rating 10/10, a perfect mountain for anyone looking to get into mountaineering on the Cascade's volcanoes without roping up" — MountainQuest • May 27, 2020

"We started at 1:30 A.M. and hiked by a full moon and headlamp. We made it to the weather station at 5:30 A.M. and had to wait for the wind to die down. We were able to continue at 6:30 A.M., being the first to summit that morning." — andrealanejacobs • Jun 18, 2019

"Conditions were perfect! We hit the trail a little after 5:30 am and summited at ~ 10:30 am using trekking poles and micro-spikes, leaving time for an early lunch break and several rest and snack/hydration stops. No need for crampons or ice axe. Where possible we hiked on the snow in the foot steps of those that preceded us next to the rocky ridge. After taking some photos and having a snack at the summit we enjoyed a long series of glissades and sliding on our decent, putting on our waterproof pant shell and using a large garbage bag. It took us about 2.5 hours to return to the Trailhead parking lot. Great day! I really enjoyed the Winter route even though it is longer than the summer route and more elevation. The snow is easier to hike on than the ash which tends to move you backward on every step." — joeerickson • May 22, 2019

"First Coast Mtn ascent, first Cascade volcano, and first volcano ski for Rick. Bluebird +14C at trailhead at 8am. 1700m over 7 hrs to true summit (everyone else only went to south summit). Nice 4km ski descent with 2km of walking back to parking lot where guy was playing guitar and serving up local brew! A day in Hood River chillin and off to ski Mt Hood tonight..." — alexjoseph • May 9, 2019

"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 the avalanche forecast, people were getting a much earlier start from the parking lot than the usual 5:00-5:30 am - the first party left at 2:00 am, and since we were woken up by the activity outside, we fired up the coffee and breakfast and hit the trail at 3:45 am. Leaving this early turned out to be a blessing in several ways. There is deep snow from the beginning of the trail, and so it was nice to be able to just walk without snowshoes since it was still so cool. Over the course of the day, we saw people with snowshoes, crampons, micro-spikes, and of course, skis. We had crampons and snows..." — 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 wet slide avalanches (we did see the remnants of a recent wet slab avalanche just below the crater rim). This was my first introduction to ski "mountaineering" and I think the hook is set." — TynanRammGranberg • May 1, 2016

"Left Portland at 4:30am. Started hike from Marble Mountain Sno-Park at 6:30am. Summited (crater rim) around noon. Left the crater rim around 1pm and made it back to the car around 4pm." — aweygandt • Mar 31, 2016