Finally splitted up Mount St. Helens this year after getting most of my bc gear jacked en route last season.

[vimeo:3mle0tyc]http://www.vimeo.com/65355929[/vimeo:3mle0tyc]

I think there are still weekday permits available for 2013, and conditions were primo last weekend (April 28th). Great long day tour, no technical terrain en route, lots of fun rock chutes and little wind lip hits on the way down. Awesome trip, going to be doing this one every spring. Highly recommended.

Cold weather (wind, fog and below 30 degrees) on the upper mountain meant soft but cold, fast snow above about 4,000 feet. Below that was a little slushy, but I was still able to ride all the way from the summit to the parking lot (6 miles, 5k+ feet of fun) with only minor skating on the lower trail, and one push from my skier buddy.

Loose wet avy danger will be a slight factor now with the recent storm and first real high temps of the spring, but with the mostly mellow slope angle options it can be mitigated. The final face is steep and exposed to wind and in our case fog (whippet was helpful), but even in the pea soup route finding was fairly simple. Just make sure you hit the trail when you enter the treeline on the way back down. And stay the hell back from those cornices on the crater rim, duh.

Got creative editing some GoPro video with USFS public archives footage from the 1980’s eruption. Cheers,