Mt Baker
Packed powder, some powder, wet powder
Minimal wind
90% open terrain
Let me just say, if you have never been here, or have the opportunity to visit- Mt. Baker is a MUST-SKI. Beautiful scenery, quick chairs, and terrain of all kinds for all levels. I left early in the morning to catch first chair (as usual) and missed it by about half an hour because I underestimated how scary the road leading to the top was going to be! Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with heights, twisties, or driving but there is something unnerving about the hairpin turns and sharp drops off the side where the only thing separating you from certain death is a flimsy guardrail. If I were in my Miata or Trans Am, I would’ve LOVED the drive, but in my rented Ford Escape…well, lets just say I’m not a fan of top heavy vehicles with poor weight transferring capabilities. But I digress. I arrived around 9:30, paid for my ticket (cheapest one of the trip!) and wandered over to C-4 lift to get myself over to the fun stuff. On the rid up C-5, I was very humbled when I saw the terrain and was wondering what I got myself into. The lines to the left and right of the lift line are daunting- especially with little cover. After unloading, I wandered skiers left and found these HUGE, expansive snow fields of un tracked powder (okay, only about 6 inches, but still awesome!).
I ran out Diehl’s, white salmon, big hemi, and Daytona for all they were worth, getting faster and faster and more confident with each run. I eventually went up C-8 and found out why they call one of the runs the “oh zone.” What a blast! I ran this a few more times, getting into some jumps, bumps, and small cliffs just having an absolute blast. But then the sprinkles came in and got all of the powder to be wet and heavy. I quickly made my way over to the Razorhorn Canyon and the C-6 lift to get in a run down Gunners Bowl before it got to slow, but alas, I was too late. The bowl was still a blast being fresh, but it wasn’t a very fast run. To bad, so sad. Suprisingly though, a run called The Canyon had amazing snow, and despite being how narrow it was, wasn’t skied off or icy what-so-ever. I spent a few runs in there and in the trees leading to the trail head just off the lift.
I ran down the rest of the front face that C-6 granted access to and started to understand why folks actually like bump skiing. The bumps that I experienced were soft, and fun to hit- not the ice chutes/ice packed mounds that we have here. I actually enjoyed it a lot and went back again and again to get better and to practice my technique.
Around 2:30pm I was finally hungry and HAD to break from the fun and have some calories. One microwbrew IPA and one Mountain Dew later, I was hyped up on caffeine (I don’t normally drink it) and loose enough to not be so critical of myself in the bumps. I enjoyed them on various runs for the rest of the day and skied until last chair on the lower mountain after the upper closed. My legs have never been so sore from skiing so much!
Other than the rain making the snow a little more sticky, this was an amazing place to be. On one lift ride up, I was with ski patrol and he pointed out the lines on the lift towers that showed how high the record snow was last year. There was seriously 20’ difference between now and later. I could only imagine that whole area covered with snow, the tippy tops of some of the bigger trees pointing skyward, and going down the mountain however the hell you fell like. I’m going to do my best to make a late season trip to Baker. If I enjoyed it this much and it wasn’t even at its best, I can only imagine how much fun I’ll have later in the season!
Baker belongs to the clouds. The rain clouds.
Unknown range off the North face of the ski area
Canyon run- one of the best of the day.
They have big ass cans of beer at the gas stations in WA
Off Baker somewhere.
On the way down the mountain
Trying to take a photo while skiing. Probably not the best idea I've had all day.
Packed powder, some powder, wet powder
Minimal wind
90% open terrain
Let me just say, if you have never been here, or have the opportunity to visit- Mt. Baker is a MUST-SKI. Beautiful scenery, quick chairs, and terrain of all kinds for all levels. I left early in the morning to catch first chair (as usual) and missed it by about half an hour because I underestimated how scary the road leading to the top was going to be! Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with heights, twisties, or driving but there is something unnerving about the hairpin turns and sharp drops off the side where the only thing separating you from certain death is a flimsy guardrail. If I were in my Miata or Trans Am, I would’ve LOVED the drive, but in my rented Ford Escape…well, lets just say I’m not a fan of top heavy vehicles with poor weight transferring capabilities. But I digress. I arrived around 9:30, paid for my ticket (cheapest one of the trip!) and wandered over to C-4 lift to get myself over to the fun stuff. On the rid up C-5, I was very humbled when I saw the terrain and was wondering what I got myself into. The lines to the left and right of the lift line are daunting- especially with little cover. After unloading, I wandered skiers left and found these HUGE, expansive snow fields of un tracked powder (okay, only about 6 inches, but still awesome!).
I ran out Diehl’s, white salmon, big hemi, and Daytona for all they were worth, getting faster and faster and more confident with each run. I eventually went up C-8 and found out why they call one of the runs the “oh zone.” What a blast! I ran this a few more times, getting into some jumps, bumps, and small cliffs just having an absolute blast. But then the sprinkles came in and got all of the powder to be wet and heavy. I quickly made my way over to the Razorhorn Canyon and the C-6 lift to get in a run down Gunners Bowl before it got to slow, but alas, I was too late. The bowl was still a blast being fresh, but it wasn’t a very fast run. To bad, so sad. Suprisingly though, a run called The Canyon had amazing snow, and despite being how narrow it was, wasn’t skied off or icy what-so-ever. I spent a few runs in there and in the trees leading to the trail head just off the lift.
I ran down the rest of the front face that C-6 granted access to and started to understand why folks actually like bump skiing. The bumps that I experienced were soft, and fun to hit- not the ice chutes/ice packed mounds that we have here. I actually enjoyed it a lot and went back again and again to get better and to practice my technique.
Around 2:30pm I was finally hungry and HAD to break from the fun and have some calories. One microwbrew IPA and one Mountain Dew later, I was hyped up on caffeine (I don’t normally drink it) and loose enough to not be so critical of myself in the bumps. I enjoyed them on various runs for the rest of the day and skied until last chair on the lower mountain after the upper closed. My legs have never been so sore from skiing so much!
Other than the rain making the snow a little more sticky, this was an amazing place to be. On one lift ride up, I was with ski patrol and he pointed out the lines on the lift towers that showed how high the record snow was last year. There was seriously 20’ difference between now and later. I could only imagine that whole area covered with snow, the tippy tops of some of the bigger trees pointing skyward, and going down the mountain however the hell you fell like. I’m going to do my best to make a late season trip to Baker. If I enjoyed it this much and it wasn’t even at its best, I can only imagine how much fun I’ll have later in the season!
Baker belongs to the clouds. The rain clouds.
Unknown range off the North face of the ski area
Canyon run- one of the best of the day.
They have big ass cans of beer at the gas stations in WA
Off Baker somewhere.
On the way down the mountain
Trying to take a photo while skiing. Probably not the best idea I've had all day.
