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Mt. St. Helens - 8,365'
Oregon Peak Adventures offers climbs on three routes on Mt. St. Helens:
Dome Building In September, 2004, a new cycle of dome building began in the crater of Mt. St. Helens. The USGS estimates that the equivalent of a pick-up truck load of lava is extruded under the dome every minute. As we climb to the rim we have been documenting the changes. As of March 2008, the USGS estimates that the current dome building cycle has ended, but there are still steam releases and rockfall in the crater.
In October 1792, British Captain George Vancouver named St. Helens for his friend, Alleyne Fitzherbert, Baron St. Helens. A Klickitat Indian legend relates that the mountain was initially an ancient woman whom the Great Spirit turned into a beautiful maiden called Loo-wit-lat-kla, "Keeper of Fire". Loowit lived on the Bridge of the Gods and tended a fire source for the Indian tribes on both sides of the Columbia River. Two brothers, chiefs of their respective tribes, became enamored of Loowit and led their tribes into war over her. The angered Great Spirit destroyed the Bridge of the Gods and it crumbled into the River. The two Chiefs, Wy'east (Mt. Hood) and Klickitat or Pah-to (Mt Adams), were turned into mountains, as was Loowit (St Helens). St. Helens began forming 40,000 to 35,000 years ago during the Ape Canyon Eruptive Stage. The 9,677' summit was formed in the Kalama Eruptive Period, A.D. 1480 to 1857. On May 18, 1980, the north flank collapsed in a massive landslide. A major blast cloud destroyed 230 square miles of forest, accompanied by 800 degrees F. pyroclastic flows and mudflows from the melting glaciers and snow pack. The ash column boiled-up for over nine hours, reaching a height of 60,000'. Fifty-seven people died and property damage was estimated to be over $1.5 billion. When the ash cleared, the 8,365' high point was located on the south rim of a 2,000' deep, 1.5 by 1 mile crater. A lava dome grew in the Crater until October 1986. this dome is about 1,100' high and nearly a mile in diameter. St. Helens was reopened for climbing in 1987. In September 2004, a series of earthquakes presaged the movement of new lava into the crater, resulting in the US Forest Service closing access within a five mile radius from the Crater. Today, the new dome continues to grow as toothpaste-like magna pushes up into the crater. Low level earthquakes associated with the movement of the magna occur on a regular basis. As of July 21, 2006, St. Helens is again opened for climbing. We climb the Swift Creek Route in Winter and early spring, and the Butte Camp Route during spring when there is still snow on the mountain. Monitor Ridge is a snow climb early and gradually becomes a rocky trail/scramble by Fall. To see a real time image go to the VolcanoCam.
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