With a beautiful forecast and low avalanche danger despite some relatively new snow, Colin suggested a group of us head down to ski Saint Helens. We left Seattle around 5:30am, departing from the car a bit later than many other people at just shy of 10am but still well in the thick of the throngs of folks up there that day.

We made good time on the way up, reaching the crater rim in just over 3.5 hours. It was blustery and cold at the rim, so we didn’t stay long and opted to descend a bit to a sunny, calm bench where we ate lunch before skiing the rest of the way down and out to the car. It was a perfect time of year to do it, with continuous snow all the way from the parking lot, but a well-plowed access road and an easy skin track the whole way.