Mount St. Helens - Worm Flows Route — Monday, Jan. 19, 2026

Beautiful weather past couple days, forecast good, NWAC reported low avalanche danger, recent trip reports checked out : time to strike.

Disclaimer: I got a later start than I wanted due to very little sleep, was slower than anticipated going up, and I didn’t realize the “true summit” where you get views of Rainier and Spirt Lake was a bit more distance from where I had settled down when first getting to top of the crater rim. Despite being a pretty easy traverse with mild up/down climbers left along the rim to true summit, I was pretty gassed already by then and wanted to get down before dark, so didn’t get to tag the true summit. I had seen enough pretty stuff already, so was fine with it and will get it another day. Also since it’s winter, conditions can change a lot more rapidly, so keep that in mind with conditions described here.

Drive to Marble Mountain Sno-park (can get a parking permit online) was in very good condition. 1 or 2 potholes/dips, but paved, clear of snow, and wasn’t really that icy when I drove up early morning in the dark. I did hit an icy patch when I left in the afternoon funny enough where lost brief control, so awareness still necessary. Sedans should be able to make it. Bathrooms are open, but bring your own toilet paper.

Weather forecast had blue skies, temps in the low 40s around summit, and wind gusts from 15-20 mph. Only got wind in the middle of the hike. Top was surprisingly very calm. Warmed up very fast and lots of sweat midday with snow sun reflections. Make sure to bring enough water and electrolytes.

In terms of gear, I brought snowshoes, microspikes, one trekking pole, ice ax, and helmet. Ended up not using snowshoes, but peace of mind in having them was worth it. I was too lazy to put them on, and may have been good to wear them going down because of all the post holing, but it was a tough call, because then wouldn’t be able to do glissades intermittently. I debated bringing semi automatic crampons, but recent reports I read had people seem to do fine with just microspikes. I did see plenty of people use crampons and snowshoes.

Morning snow was firm enough that microspikes gave decent traction for me. Stair step boot path already beaten in some sections was nice. With my late start, afternoon sun had turned snow into soft mashed potatoes. No matter how compacted I tried to find terrain on the way down, I would sink to my upper thigh in some places when stepping. Was slipping around a lot and it was tiring. Glissading chutes were peppered throughout and could jump in and out depending on steepness and bare rock proximity. Skiers coming down seemed to be able to navigate terrain fine. A lot of the Worm Flows route up as navigated with my GPS would parallel a lot of bare rock, so could have your choice of walking on snow or scrambling on boulders if you wanted.

Crater rim area is marked with orange flags serving as warnings to not go past due to cornice instability.

Views on such a bluebird day were fantastic. Didn’t expect clouds in forecast, but was high enough to be above cloud layer in some far away distances. Plenty of people were out and a lot had an even later start than I did.

625 AM : start at Marble Mountain Sno-Park

745 AM : chocolate falls (dry now)

1210 PM : crater rim area top

1255 PM : start descent

305 PM : back at chocolate falls

355 PM : end