When I pop over the top of the rim on Loowit I’m always astounded by the sheer amount of rock that was blown out of the mountain during the 1980 explosion, it’s an incredible and impressive place to be standing and a reminder that we should really move to a different state. The standard winter ascent route on Loowit is the “Worm’s Flow” route which rises about 5000’ over 5.5 miles, meandering first through the forest before popping out into the sunshine below the main face of the mountain. This is one of the few Cascade volcanoes where you can often ski to and from your car without any walking!

This winter has been impressive, both in California where the snowpack is 300% of average and here in Washington where we’ve been bombarded by a seemingly endless stream of rain. Getting to and from the volcanoes often means driving to trailheads that are at 2000 or 3000’ of elevation and until those roads are consistently snow-free you run the risk of adding a few extra miles to your trip. This week, there was a one-day window of sun between two storms on Friday, and fortunately the road was just clear enough for us to make it. A sedan that drove in to the trailhead ahead of us bottomed-out on the snow and had to back out, so it wasn’t a guarantee!

Because Ilan has a baby now we decided to forgo the traditional Loowit trailhead camping and do the trip as a daytrip. This also has the advantage that you don’t get woken up at 7am by snowmobiles in the parking lot! Instead, I got up at 4:45 and picked up Alex in Queen Anne, grabbed Ilan from the side of the road in Central District (thanks Christine for ferrying Ilan!) and then we nabbed Elise from the park and ride in Tukwila. At about 8:45 we were in the trailhead getting our gear sorted. The trailhead temperatures were already well over freezing and the sun was just peeking out from the trees, good signs for good snow conditions somewhere on the mountain. Although, realistically on a volcano in springtime you are pretty much guaranteed a little bit of ice, a little bit of good snow, and a lot of slush.

We felt a little bit of time pressure in the morning because the sun went behind some clouds around 10am and we got worried that the snow would freeze into a crust and make the skiing more difficult. Fortunately, that only affected about 500’ of skiing when we went down later, but if we had skied down an hour or two closer to sunset we might have had a much worse time.

We had lunch around noon at 5000’ and then just kept pushing on and cruising up. This was our first real volcano of the season for everybody and Elise’s first volcano ever, so it just felt good to be outside and moving on a mountain where there isn’t too much objective hazard to worry about! Around 2pm or so we popped over the upper headwall and caught sight of the summit in the distance. Most climbers and skiers on Loowit actually beeline to the rim of the crater, which is about 150’ below the true summit, but since the refreeze concerns seemed to be minimal we felt comfortable going all the way to the top and skiing right off the summit cornice.

Snow conditions were phenomenal for the top 3 or 4000’ of skiing, except for a brief section with some ice crust (or loud pow, as Elise educated us). Of the three times I’ve on Loowit this was definitely the best skiing we’ve had! Tough to start volcano season with such an excellent day, since odds are that the next trip will be filled with all sorts of terrible snow and ice.

And that’s it! Another beautiful day in the mountains. I promise to blow my nose before making any videos on the next trip.