A new rule this year gives hikers who failed to secure a pass to climb Mount St. Helens another chance at the end of each month.
Mount St. Helens 2018 climbing permits go on sale at 9 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 1. Permits are required to travel above 4,800-foot elevation on the volcano.
From April 1 to Oct. 31, climbing permits are $22 per climber and can be purchased online through the Mount St. Helens Institute website,
mshinstitute.org.
From April 1 through May 15, 500 permits per day are available. From May 16 through Oct. 31, 100 permits per day are available.
In response to feedback from climbers, a few improvements in the Mount St. Helens permit process have been made for 2018, according to a news release from the Mount St. Helens Institute.
First, approximately 10 percent of all permits during the May 16 through Oct. 31 period will not be released until the last day of the month preceding. For example, 10 percent of all June permits would only be released at 12:01 a.m. on May 31. This change provides climbers who were unable to secure permits on the on-sale date or wanted to make last-minute arrangements a chance to secure permits.
Secondly, in order to increase well-being and safety on the volcano, climbers will be prompted through their confirmation email to register the names of all climbers in their party before their climb. This information will help climbing rangers to better respond to emergencies and will help discourage unauthorized climbing permit resales.
The permit process allows climbers to print their permits, fill-in climber name on each permit, and bring them with along to the trailhead. Climbers are also required to sign in and out at the climber’s register at Climber’s Bivouac (summer route) and Marble Mountain Sno-Park (winter route) trailheads and are encouraged to fill out their party info through the confirmation email link. Plastic permit holders are available at the climber’s register for climbers to use to display each permit in a visible manner while climbing Mount St. Helens.
National Forest Day Passes (parking permits) are necessary to park at Climber’s Bivouac and are not provided with climbing permits at time of purchase. Funds from pass sales are used to maintain the toilets, parking and campsites at Climber’s Bivouac, provide climber customer service, and fund volunteer and youth education programs at Mount St. Helens.
Climbers need to display a National Forest Day Pass, National Forest Annual Pass or America the Beautiful Pass on each car parked at Climber’s Bivouac.
Day Passes are available for purchase ($5) at a self-service pay station at Climber’s Bivouac, at monument facilities, or online through Discover Your Northwest, discovernw.org/passes.
No pass is needed at Marble Mountain Sno-Park between April 1 to Oct. 31 — a Sno-Park pass is, however, required from Dec. 1 to March 31. For more information contact the Mount St. Helens Institute at 360-449-7883.
—Mount St. Helens Institute
