Mount St. Helens - Worm Flows Route, Mount St. Helens - Monitor Ridge — Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025

As per the Mount St. Helens Institute Climbing Stewards: 

Through the Forest: Patchy shallow snow with lots of exposed rock and dirt until well above the quarry. About 3' deep by the Chocolate Falls neighborhood (3500'). A nice packed ski and snowshoe track once the snow begins.

Chocolate Falls neighborhood(3500-3900'). Snow 3-5' deep. A nice packed ski and snowshoe track . Stayed too cold to post hole today (unlike higher altitudes).

Last trees to the seismograph (3900-5600'): Deep snow. Big cornice on east side of route over canyon. Icy in the AM, but deep and soupy post-holeville by PM. Very tough travel downhill.

Seismograph to 7000: Icy early, soft and deep my afternoon

East aspect of Monitor Ridge (7000-7650'): Thick hard ice AM, but softened 2-3 " by afternoon.

Monitor Ridge to Rim (7650-8250'): Heavy rime ice, frozen rain, and deep wind scoured snow. Soft enough to ski by afternoon.

Rim: Cornice is at least 20' into the crater.
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AVI: Debris from several large slab avalanches triggered by cornice fails between 4500 and 5500 feet. Probably a few days old. No excitement today. Avi orange on Friday.

Ski: By afternoon, ice had softened for good rides from the rim well into the woods. Snow runs out well above the quarry (3,000' elevation, just over a mile up from Marble

Glissade: Conditions unsuitable. No tracks.

Future: Another storm moves in Friday with snow above 3500' and very high winds.

WEATHER OUTLOOK

Marble and Cougar Snow Parks 1/9 and onward:  Still no snow at Cougar and very little at Marble.   The road is plowed and currently free of snow and ice. The Friday storm is mostly rain with just a dusting of new snow Friday night into Saturday morning.   Roads and parking shouldn't be a problem.   The lack of snow at Marble does mean that skiers and snow machine folks will run into lots of bare spots below 3,000'.

Ski:   Plenty of snow above 3,000', but expect a lot of ice.

Climb: 

Thursday 1/9:   Summit temps just above freezing, lots of sunshine, but it may be breezy (25 mph+).   Climbers need skis or snowshoes and crampons and an ice ax.  Avi yellow.

Friday 1/10:   Stormy.  Rain at Marble. Summit 16 F with 45+ mph winds (wind chill -10F).  Heavy snow with whiteout conditions and increasing avi risk.  

Saturday 1/11: Lingering snow showers.  Summit 21F with 35+ mph winds (wind chill around zero F).  Cloudy with dense fog and very low visibility.  There will be blowing snow and new ice.  Climbers need skis or snowshoes and crampons and an ice ax.  Check the avi risk.  It is likely to be elevated.

Sunday 1/12: Summit 19 F with winds of 30 mph possible.   Cloudy with fog and very low visibility.  There will be new ice and blowing snow if it is windy.  Climbers need skis or snowshoes and crampons and an ice ax.  Check the avi risk.  It is likely to be elevated.

Monday 1/13 and onward: Back to sunny and warm.