Climbing up, snowboarding down summit of Mount St. Helens

The Approach

Mount St. Helens is 52 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon, and 98 miles south of Seattle. It’s a five-hour direct flight from Columbus to Seattle. We landed just after midnight local time.

Todd Aaron Briggs (TAB) (Ashland High School Class of ’99) rented a white Ford F-150 4×4 and was waiting for my son, Soren (Ashland Class of ’25), and me at the airport.

We flew out with four bags weighing close to 200 pounds. Check out the gear list here.

TAB, who lives in Spain, flew from Valencia to Amsterdam, then direct to Washington, landing before us. He had time to gather things you can’t fly with, like camp fuel, lighters and bear mace.

Most importantly, he obtained the three avalanche beacons we rented from Gear House. (Avalanche forecasts along with snowfall, melt and depth, were checked every day in the month leading to the climb. But we still had avalanche shovels, probes and transceivers/beacons just to be safe.)

Mount St. Helens famously erupted on March 27, 1980. But the south side was still intact and it took us three hours to drive southeast from Seattle to the Marble Mountain Snow Park, where most climbers start the approach via the “Worm Flows” route.

We stopped in Woodland to lay out and double-check all the gear and make it to the trailhead, and started the climb after sunrise at 6:20 a.m., without rest or sleep.

The Climb

After hiking through the woods, the ground turned to snow and the elevation went from 2,600 feet to 3,600 feet. We arrived at “treeline,” where the conditions are too extreme for trees to grow and where the real climbing usually begins.

Crampons (spikes for your feet) were put on over mountaineering boots, along with waterproof winter gaiters (that go over the top of your boots and up your shin like a big sock to keep snow out, and so you don’t tear your hard shell climbing pant with the razors that are now attached to your boots).

Hiking poles were replaced by an ice axe. We caked our faces in sunscreen, broke out the glacier sunglasses (snow blindness is no joke), tightened up the climbing helmet, tested the avalanche beacons and began to have some fun.

With snowboard and separate boots, food, water, first aid, etc., we had 30-35 pound packs and some pretty steep inclines in front of us. We had to ascend roughly 5,000 feet of elevation to reach the summit of 8,363 feet.

On top of the normal fitness-related brutality of mountaineering, it was way too hot, around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The top snow was melting and turning to slush. Every step we’d sink in and slip a little, making it take twice as long to advance up a pitch.

In all honesty, about an hour from the summit I was down to quit. Or at least leave my ridiculously heavy pack on the slope and get to the summit. But both Soren and TAB pushed on and motivated me to keep going.

TAB was also a marathon and ultramarathon runner so his fitness was unbelievable. Most of the climb he kicked in the steps in front, making it way easier for us. Soren was also in peak shape, putting in three months of training on the StairMaster with a weighted pack.

My training cycle was cut short as I bruised my ribs during a fall at Snow Trails. But in the last month, I climbed the equivalent of the going to the top of the Empire State Building with a 25-pound pack, twice a week with cardio runs in between.

In terms of sheer weight loss, I started at 197 pounds and before the climb I was 178. Big shoutout to Mad Fit in Madison as that was my gym for this cycle.

The Descent

This was some of the best snowboarding I’ve ever done, alone on the mountain, fresh powder no matter the path, glorious views.

But I also cramped and had to stop all the time and route-find. It was so hot and at some points we’d have to take our boards and skis off because the powder was too deep and slushy.

The worst part of the climb is usually the last couple of miles, so to be able to float out on a board made all the suffering worth it.

Skiing Crystal Mountain

The climb took us 12 hours roundtrip and we burned over 4,000 calories. For perspective, the average marathon runner burns 2,500 during a race. We set up camp around Mount St. Helens and when we finally crashed it was 40 hours with no sleep.

The next day we drove four hours to the north side of Mount Rainier. I climbed it unguided three years ago, but this time it was about resort skiing, not climbing.

Camp was set up along the White River in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Gorgeous area with the mix of both a pine and rain forest. Tent sleeping was cold that night, around 30F, along with our bodies being a bit exhausted, but no bugs!

We broke camp and it was chilly the next morning and we drove a half-hour to Crystal Mountain Ski Resort and boarded and skied all day. My legs were shaking toward the end as we did 11 miles of snowboarding and I had to quit early.

The last night of the trip we got an AirBnB in Seattle and celebrated with libations and some of Washington’s finest home-grown …