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<\/a><\/p>\nAfter a few hours of sleep, we awoke at 3:45am to get ready for our climb.\u00a0 We whipped together our gear, got some food in us, and checked conditions.\u00a0 The temps were cold but after gathering gear I was shedding layers like crazy.\u00a0 It was warm – still in the upper 30’s lower 40’s by my guess.\u00a0 I had hoped for freezing temps since that helps freeze the snow and make for safer climbing – but it was not to be.\u00a0 A little after 4:30am we switched on our headlamps and started up the Monitor ridge route.\u00a0 I know the warm temps and high avy danger warnings kept me apprehensive all morning as we started up the steep pitches.\u00a0 We climbed up, through, and around the rocks of Monitor ridge, taking short breaks every hour for a bite and drinking.\u00a0 The idea being that by staying on the ridge top and out of the snow fields – we would be much safer.<\/p>\n
We made steady progress of about a 1,000 ft of elevation every hour; and the route was only moderately steep.\u00a0 I would certainly say it was easier than Mt Hood.The sun began to glow over the horizon and we feasted on a beautiful sunrise about half the way up.\u00a0 The snow was fairly well consolidated, and easy to walk on with crampons.\u00a0 As we reached to summit, however, the sun was full-on shining and the snow quickly softening.\u00a0 But by then, we had already reached our goal, the summit rim, at around 9:30am.<\/p>\n
Upon reaching the summit, we posed for the obligatory summit shots and took a breather.\u00a0 This became more fun because a great number of people there were sporting all manner of ladies dresses, hats, etc.\u00a0 We posed for our shot and quickly re-clad.\u00a0 Even though it was already in the 50’s, the mild wind was enough to keep our jackets on.\u00a0 We had some lunch, took some photos, enjoyed the scenery and enjoyed the show.\u00a0 We were some of the first few groups there, and a huge line of people were steadily streaming to the summit. The costumes and goof-balls that showed up were certainly entertaining.<\/p>\n Then the best part – the return trip. About a third of the people coming up skied or snowboarded down.\u00a0 We did not have such accoutrements (but man – I would have LOVED to had my snowboard judging by the amazing carving folks were doing!), so we opted for glissading.\u00a0 The snow had softened dramatically by this point under the glaring sun, so we glissaded huge sections back to our campsite.\u00a0 Honestly, some of the most fun I’ve had in a long time.\u00a0 Absolutely amazing conditions.\u00a0 I did see some slab cracks forming at the tops of some ridges – and it certainly made me pause – but our leaders believed them benign and we skirted them.\u00a0 Still, I was keenly aware of those avy warnings that I’d been reading.\u00a0 The advantage of the glissading was actually that we spent much less time in the ‘danger zones’ by zipping around them instead of spending extra time hiking them.\u00a0 We reached camp in a blindingly fast 2 hours.\u00a0 We packed up then hiked back to our cars.\u00a0 We were all quite beat by the time we reached the vehicles – but it all went swimmingly.\u00a0 What a great experience!<\/p>\n I would have wished for far less avy danger and certainly wouldn’t have attempted this without 2 very experienced team leaders.\u00a0 I also escaped getting sunburned – but did get a really nice sun rash.\u00a0\u00a0 Even two days after the trip, the second I get into the sun my skin starts to prickle.\u00a0 This after taking baths in SPF 50 every hour for two straight days.\u00a0 A testament to how bright it was.\u00a0 Good thing I work an inside desk job so I can give my skin a rest. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I tried to climb Mt St Helens on Mother’s day last year after graduating from BCEP – but the weather had other plans (winter snowstorm + lightning!) and we had to cancel.\u00a0 This year it couldn’t have been more opposite.\u00a0 Temps were predicted to be warm.\u00a0 No, strike that, downright HOT.\u00a0 So warm in fact, that there was a wet-slab avalanche danger warning issued for the entire cascade range and they were even taking the unheard of step of offering…<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n