Mount Saint Helens: in the PNW get above the clouds ~ ~ ~

The Mount Saint Helens White Room.

We were treating this as a training trip.  The weather was supposed to be miserable.  And it started out just as it was supposed to: gray, gloomy and moist.

Matt Paul avoiding a large hole in the Worm Flow moraines.

But, as it happens in the Pacific Northwest, if you don't like the weather you have to change your altitude.  As we got higher on the mountain we out-climbed the clouds and broke though the cloud ceiling that was thick everywhere below 5,000'.

Perseverance paid off and the clouds cleared just above 5,000'.

Above the cloud the unfiltered sun bore down on us.  It's been two days since we did this climb and my thighs are still burning from opening my ski pant vents and not sun-screening my legs.  We climbed fast and made the most of the good weather.

Matt churning up the Monitor Ridge towards the crater rim of Mount Saint Helens.

Matt taking a breather at 8,000'.

Me standing on the Crater Rim.  The true summit is the far peak in the background with the HUGE cornice.  Photo: Matt Paul.

Matt at the crater's edge.

Me on the rim of the smoking caldera.  This is a must see!  Even if the skiing is awful, the views make the trip well worthwhile.  Photo: Matt Paul.

Me peering into the center of St Helen's Crater Rim.  Photo: Matt Paul.

Me standing on the true summit of Mount Saint Helens.  HUGE cornice.  Photo: Matt Paul.

The snow was much stickier than expected, but there were a few good turns to be had above 6,000'. Below that and it was survival skiing.  The transitioning snow varied between velcro and glue and it was a struggle not to have a leg ripped off.  But heh, skiing's always better than walking right?

Matt descends a rib of Monitor Ridge with Mount Adams jutting above the clouds.

What goes up must come down.  So we set off into the clouds back to the trail head.  The only way to keep glide was to ski on skin tracks and  the snowshoes packed trail.  We kept a few snow-shoers on their toes on the way down.

The skiing below 6,000' wasn't amazing, but Matt made it look alright.

Descending below the cloud deck on volcanic moraines.