Mt St Helens this year was an incredible journey. We started out from Marble Mount Trailhead at midnight. As we walked along the 4 mile approach we were struck by how little amount of snow we were seeing- none!
By the time we reached the boulder field we still had yet to see any snow. We climbed the boulder fields this year instead of being able to head up the snow fields next to them. This made for a very difficult climb due to the fact that the boulders are all at varying heights and surrounded by sand.
When we finally reached the weather station at 6500 ft is when we first saw snow. The snowfields were nice and hard being as it was still around 0330 in the morning. Unfortunately there was a storm moving in. We knew that the weather might turn from decent to bad at a moments notice, but it moved faster than we expected.
The temperatures dropped to around 15 degrees and the winds came up in velocity, yet we continued up. As we approached the summit there were dark thunder clouds building to the south of us and below our elevation. We sat an observed them for a moment realizing that they were moving from the west to the east and staying just south of the mountain. Also the winds coming off of the summit left a clear sky corridor leading from the summit to our decent route. So with this being the case we felt that it would be safe enough to continue for the summit but keep a watchful eye on the approaching storm.
When we were 200 feet on the summit slope (the most vertical pitch of the entire climb) the storm hit us with an unexpected ferocity. The dark clouds enveloped the mountain from the east and the west and then dark clouds came over the summit ridge covering us in snow, winds, and white out conditions.
At that moment we had a decision to make: continue the last 200 feet up a very steep summit slope in a snow storm and white out conditions, hoping that they will clear up after we reach the summit. Or turn around and begin our decent hoping that we'll have various breaks of clear skies in order to get us down safely through the boulder fields.
It was a very difficult position- 200 feet from the summit but fully enveloped in a snow storm. But in reality there was no choice at all. The mountain will always be there and getting down safely is more important than anything else. We turned around and began our decent.
The decent was filled with moments of clear skies, followed quickly by white out conditions and snow. When we got below 2500 ft the snow turned to rain with some lightning. It was those moments which showed us that we had made the right decision.
We made it down after walking up and back for 12 hours. Tired, wet, a little hungry, but happy that we learned some valuable lessons up on the mountain. Not only is it important to know your own limits, but it's just as important to know the mountain's limits as well.