Climbing Mount St. Helens (Rainier: how much, live, dangerous)

[ogre]

Hi everyone. I've never posted on the Washington forum before, but now I find I have a question about the area. My nephew plans a visit to the Northwest in early August, and tells me the plans include a hike up Mt. St. Helens. He says, "We have a permit." So, I hear this, and I'm thinking, one of those volcanoes in the Northwest, and I'm picturing something like Rainier or Hood--big mountain, glaciers, snow fields, serious mountaineering. Hearing that you need a permit to climb St. Helens re-enforces that picture. So I'm digesting all this and getting kind of nervous. This kid has done some hiking, including hiking on mountain trails, but never any serious technical work, so I started getting kind of concerned that he'd be getting in way over his head.

So I did some research, and found that St. Helens is a good-sized mountain, but still substantially smaller than Rainier or Hood. Also, it appears that this climb involves straightforward hiking--albeit rigorous--with no technical work. I'm not sure why they limit the number of hikers by issuing permits, unless maybe the landscape is kind of delicate after the 1980 eruption and they're trying to preserve its pristine quality. Anyway, am I correct that this is all straight hiking with no technical work? Also, given the mountain's latitude, and the 8,000-foot-plus altitude, I'm assuming that this is a hike for which you should take plenty of warm clothing even during summer. I'm assuming too that it's best to be in really good physical condition, as this appears to be a rather challenging hike. My nephew will be 21 this summer, and is in basically solid physical condition, but I'm thinking he might benefit from doing some serious running to get in shape for this outing, if I have the right picture of the hike's level of difficulty.

Do I have the correct picture of what a climb of St. Helens entails, and is there any other info I should pass along to my nephew to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip? To save people the trouble of making unnecessary posts, I'll repeat that my nephew has done some hiking of moderate difficulty, and I'm an experienced outdoorsman myself, so I don't need general info on the basics of hiking in rugged country, but would appreciate information specific to St. Helens. Thanks for any info you can provide.

[Sobefobik]

I don't think you will have to worry about your nephew. I climbed St. Helens when I was 14 years old, and I didn't have a problem with it. Of course, you always want to follow the typical safety measures--carry an ice axe, let everyone know where and when you are hiking, have warm clothes, etc. I'm sure you already know about that stuff since you are familiar with it.

There is not much technique to climbing St. Helens. It's not terribly steep, and there aren't any dangerous crossings that I can think of. They have just recently started requiring you to get a pass to climb St. Helens. The reason is because there has been recent volcanic activity up there. Now don't get worried yet! We had some very light eruptions, all which have stopped for now. There has not been recent activity up there for months now. But, because of this activity, they want to know who is going up there, and they want to limit the amount of people who go up there.

It's always good to get physically prepared to climb a mountain, but I don't think he needs to strain himself too much in getting ready for this hike. It's not that hard. You can easily do this in one day, which is what I did when I was 14. I hope he has a great time up there! It really is a beautiful hike!

[allforcats]

Mt. St. Helens is an active volcano. She spews now and then. That would be the reason that only a numbered and accounted-for small total of climbers are issued permits. The climb is usually described as "strenuous", potentially involving varying weather conditions.
Climbing Mount St. Helens — Mount St. Helens Institute

[skinem]

I climbed Mt. St. Helens the the first time the first year after the eruption it was open for that activity. I was a pushing 40 at the time and made it. There was nothing technical about the climb, which is basically a steep walk. Ok, a pretty steep walk. Ascent and descent from the car is easily done in a long day, depending upon how much you stop along the way. I would leave early, as near daybreak as I could--that way you are sure to have time and time enough if you have any issues.
Figure how much you'll need to drink, and then double it!

Last time I climbed it, I was able to get a pass with a phone call to the headquarters there---but that may have changed since I last did it a couple of years ago.

It'll be a beautiful hike if the weather isn't socked in!

You may get more detailed info at nw hiker dot net (all shoved together)--mods, if I violated rules, I apologize.

Ogre, PM me if the website address isn't there.

[ogre]

Thanks for all the good info. Those links are great. Lots of good, detailed info there. Love the pics too. This looks like a beautiful area. Wish I were making this trip myself. My nephew is going with his girlfriend, though, so the old uncle might be regarded as, um, extra company. Looks gorgeous around there, though, judging from the pics.

I'll give those links a further look, but as of now I'm still a bit uncertain about whether they'll be dealing with snow on the ground. The hike will be in first week of August. I'm assuming that at any time of year this is a hike where you want to be fully prepared for cold and/or wet conditions, but is snow possible in early Aug.?

Thanks again for the info. Skinem, I must have repped you recently on another thread. They tell me I have to "spread some," so I'll have to get back to you on this one. The link worked fine, by the way. Thanks all.

[skinem]

Shouldn't be any snow on the ground the first week of August--well, only in places and nothing to really hike in. Of course, it could drop some on you any time of the year, but in early August, it would be short-lived.

[ogre]

Thanks for the info on snow, Skinem. That's about what I was guessing, but it's good to have the info for sure.

This also leads to the question--totally out of curiosity about places--of approximately what is the altitude of the perpetual snow line in that neck of the woods. If I'm not mistaken, Rainier has perpetual snow on the higher slopes. There's about a 6,000-foot difference between Rainier and the current, post-'80, St. Helens. Anyone know about where it is in those 6,000 feet that the snow line begins?

[XXclimberX]

Originally Posted by ogre

Thanks for the info on snow, Skinem. That's about what I was guessing, but it's good to have the info for sure.

This also leads to the question--totally out of curiosity about places--of approximately what is the altitude of the perpetual snow line in that neck of the woods. If I'm not mistaken, Rainier has perpetual snow on the higher slopes. There's about a 6,000-foot difference between Rainier and the current, post-'80, St. Helens. Anyone know about where it is in those 6,000 feet that the snow line begins?

I've climbed pretty much every Cascade volcanic volcano between British Columbia and Northern California. Do trad/sport/ice and mountaineering.

I'm in my 20s now, but have been climbing for over 10 years since i was a kid. Sometimes even in August you can find snow in the trees on the slopes of St. Helens, the thing about St. Helens is that it has alot less snow on it compared to the other cascade volcanoes.

By late summer there are only a few snow fields left. You shouldn't have a problem but you should be prepared to encounter some snow possibly.

I hate to break it to you but August and September is probably the worst month to climb Helens because of all the blowing ash, but its still an easy climb that is doable. I would suggest taking a trip to the north cascades afterwards to check out some of the bigger peaks.

In conclusion Helens has considerably less snow in August on its slopes compared to the other Cascade peaks. As far as snow line goes, it just depends on the year with Helens since all the major glaciers were destroyed on it during the 1980 eruption.