Mount Saint Helens Early Spring Ski

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I've been looking forward to a, relatively, mellow day on the mountain that ends with a long ski out. Mount Saint Helens is a popular ski descent that brings lots of climbers during the spring season. The winter climbing route is called the Worm Flows route. This route is roughly a 5,000ft ascent across roughly 5 miles. So, the climb isn't easy but it's very low consequence and low exposure. Once you arrive and start climbing you will see why its called Worm Flows. The route ascends up these massive gulleys or grooves carved out in the terrain.

The Trip Plan

The most common plan for skiing Mount Saint Helens is to arrive at the Marble Mount Snow-Park the night before you climb. Then, climb all the way up and ski down the next day. Depending on the weather, it's a good idea to plan to be on the summit by early afternoon. Arriving at the summit around 1:00pm is generally a good time to shoot for.

I spoke about skiing Saint Helens with a few friends of mine, Joe and Mike. I was also planning on meeting my buddy Jackson on the mountain that day as well. We all agreed to meet at the trailhead the night before the climb, and we would come up with a start time for the next day when we all arrived. The weather for that day was clear skies and sunny, exactly what we wanted for a fun day on Saint Helens.

I arrived at the Marble Mount Snow-Park around 7-8:00pm. I found Joe and Mike and we decided to wake up around 7:30am and head out soon after. Since this route isn't a very consequential climb, we weren't too worried on being strict with time. It was going to be a fun and relaxing day out on the mountain!

Jackson was running a bit late and, I had no reception at the Snow-Park so, I just decided we would meet on the mountain somewhere. I had just enough time to get my gear together, setup my sleeping arrangement in my car, grab a quick bite to eat and head to bed.

The Beginning to a Perfect Day to Ski Saint Helens

We headed out from the Snow-Park around 7:45am. Luckily we were able to skin from the beginning of the trailhead. Depending on when you go, you may have to boot-pack the first quarter-mile to one mile of the trail. The first mile you travel through tree cover, and just when you exit the trees you will start the ascent up the large carved out grooves that give this route its name. Image what it would look like if giant worms roamed the Earth. This route is what you would imagine these giant worm's tracks would look like.

In just a couple of hours we were already up onto the mountain, with the sun beating down on us. Man, it was a really warm day.

We were making good time but we were definitely sweating, and there was a good amount of water breaks. We got to mid-mountain at around 11:00am. Joe was feeling the heat...

Mike was feeling the heat...

And, I was feeling the heat...

The Final Push

The Mount Saint Helens winter ski ascent is really just a 5,000ft stair-master. There's not much else to it. All you can do is put your head down and skin up but, make sure you also take the time to enjoy the views around you. We were just reaching the final 1,000ft and got an extremely nice view of Mount Adams! Saint Helens offers amazing views of most of the volcanoes in the surrounding area.

During the final push to the summit I ran into my buddy Jackson who was with a couple friends of his. We all made our way to the summit together and reached the south crater rim at about 1:00pm. It felt like a party at the top, as it usually does. The Worm Flows route brings you up to the southern part of the crater rim. I've been to this point before but, I've actually never reached the "true" summit. Or, at least what we now call the "true" summit, since the "real true" summit got blown off in 1980.

To officially complete the climb, a few of us made our way to the highest point of Mount Saint Helens, the "true, but not real true" summit. It's a short trek west along the crater rim.

Now For The Fun Part

We've successfully reach the summit of Mount Saint Helens, and all that's left to do is enjoy the ski down! The snow had softened up considerably due to the constant sun exposure. The aspect we climbed and planned on skiing is south facing, so it's getting hit with sun all day. We started skiing at around 3-3:30pm, a bit later than we had planned but the snow was still good.

We enjoyed soft, spring corn all the way down. Most of the skiers had made their way down the mountain already and there weren't many other parties remaining. We had the mountain, the views, and the awesome spring snow mostly to ourselves. I have to say, it was a magnificent ski down. I recommend this route to anyone looking for awesome views and a long and mellow backcountry ski.

Oh man! This was SERIOUSLY best spring snow conditions I've every experienced!