Baker, Vancouver, and a critter cornucopia...on video

To watch: Dave & Ruth's Pacific Northwest

Mt Baker, 3 days of Cascade Dreamy, 02/16-21/2012

Ruth & I are just back from the great wet Pacific Northwest. My parents live in Bellingham, WA, and just an hour east is one of the most photogenic ski areas in America, Mt Baker. This is the kind of place that ends up in Skier and Transworld Snowboarding galleries every month. Baker holds the world record for the most annual snowfall of any resort. This place, frankly, kicks ass.

We had three superb days on the mountain, and one true powder day. Our first day was a warm welcome back, clear-ish skies, plenty of white, and stunning vistas. We boarded our little hearts out that first day. We have boarded Baker in all forms of weather and made good while the good was gettin'.  I had fun relearning the stuff in the trees. Ruth just had fun.

Our second and third days on the hill were powder deluxe. I spent most of those days in the trees, hunting for the deep stuff. I spent a fair amount of time up to my knees in Cascade crystals.

Above:

Two guys headed out of bounds on the same day that four people died in two avalanches near Stevens Pass. There was a small slide just outside the ropes at Baker on the same day. This was the result of a 2-3 foot overnight dump that lay on top of a weeks worth of older snow. This was very big news in Washington. One pro skier was saved by her avi-chute (a rip-cord pops a CO2 which deploys an airbag, keeping the skier {in this case} near the top, or above the avalanche).

The previous pics above: the incomparably photogenic Mt Shuksan.

I gotta say, this pic says a lot about riding in the Northwest.

As if to illustrate the obvious, the signs were out.

Rurthy, checking out the Nooksak River.

Sadly, this little shop in Glacier is guilty of false advertising. The goodies are yum though.

"The Shop that grew with the Great Northwest", home of Northwest Riders.

Ruthy, gearing up for one of our favorite mountains.

Cascade Dreams

The resort's live-in cat. He's been around for years.

A view of Ojai, Ventura, and the Channel Islands.

Mt Baker, Cascade Boarding.

I thought I would share some pictures from last week's trip to Bellingham and the Cascades. My parents both live in Bellingham and Ruth and I go that way, too infrequently, to see my parents and to board Mt Baker, home of the world record for single season snowfall.

Above: Mt Baker

Below: Ruth & Sonia

Our first day of boarding we were accompanied by Sonia & Randy, friends of ours from down south. They were in Washington on plans of their own so it was nice to get a day on the slopes with them. And what a cool day it turned out to be. 6-12 new inches of snow, with more coming down. I had a great day getting reacquainted with Baker.

Below: The Nooksack River

Ruth and I spent that first day pushing around perfect sugar powder. There were no lift lines. The food at White Salmon was still good and the lodge cat made an appearance. The white continued to fall from gray skies. I had already uncovered many of my favorite tree trails and bumps and jumps. By mid-afternoon an icy breeze had sprung and a fog began pouring down the mountain. Time to call it an amazing day and a nice evening catching up with my parents.
Day 2 out of 3 dawned gray, gloomy windy and rainy in Bellingham however Ruth and I did sally forth on the off chance that the weather on Baker, 53 miles away, was somehow miraculously ideal. This was not the case, so we went back to Bellingham and hung out for the rest of the day. That evening Ruth and my parents and I had dinner at North Fork Pizza with Ruth's super-nice great aunt, Sharon. Good food, good people.

Above: Sunrise on freshy

Below: Ruth, zooming on by

Below: Pow-day!

Above and below: Mt Shooksan

As you may have guessed from the pictures, our third day at Baker was just stunning with 6 new inches overnight. This is why we board Baker. Take a look at these shots! Blue sky, powder, and possibly the most picturesque views of any ski resort in America! It was our last day and we charged it until the lifts stopped.

Above: Guy hiking up to the out of bounds stuff

Below: The Cascades across the way

Above and below: an eerie fog drops over the ridge

Above: End of the day

Above and Below: Ruthie

Thanks, Mom & Dad for everything. It was nice to see you.

Below: Chuckanut Falls

Too much of a good thing.

Sometimes you get what you wish for...and then some. I've been praying for a good dump of snow in the Pacific Northwest, preferably before our arrival in Bellingham. Well it's snowing, and snowing, and snowing. Mt Baker has gotten 4-6 feet since our arrival Saturday. It's all heavy, wet snow, AKA "Cascade Crud". And while it's beautiful, and great for the locals, who seem to be able to ski by Braille, it's not so good for the rest of us who appreciate being able to see where we're going.

The real problem with all this snow comes down to depth and visibility. Not only has the snow been falling massive quantities, but it has been accompanied by a thick fog. This combination has made snowboarding basically impossible for us. In addition, the powder has been up to 2 feet deep on the groomed runs. Off the groomed stuff the powder can be above waist deep. So we spent a few runs on Sunday not being able to see a damn thing and I got to dig out and hike a couple of times for venturing off the "groomed" stuff. It's just too much snow. For example, Ruth saw me go off a 70 degree incline that I had no idea existed until it was too late. It took me about 20 minutes to dig out and hike to a place I could resume descending. Oh, yeah. Baker is a local's mountain and they aren't renowned for their attention to clear and concise signage.

So the 2 days we've tried to board haven't gone so well. Sunday we managed just 3 runs before the elements won. Today we drove up but it was abundantly clear that conditions were even worse than they were on Sunday. Now, don't think that Ruth and I are just wimps. We came here because Mt Baker frequently has epic conditions and we'll for sure go up the mountain in storm conditions. It's just the combination of way too deep snow and true non-visibility that has put the kibosh on our plans. There just isn't much point in going if you can't see and you get stuck every 100 feet. And the forcast doesn't look any better for the rest of the week. Shit.





We did have a really nice day visiting with Scott and Liz yesterday (Monday). We played tourist and basically did a driving tour of the Pac NW. We drove to Anacortes, a sleepy seaside community that did nothing to warrant a return trip. After that we turned south and visited the bridges at Deception Pass State Park. This is one of the most picturesque of the easily accessed areas of the Puget Sound. We spotted a couple of bald eagles and hiked around a bit. We then drove over to Laconner, another sleepy little town with some interesting shops and restaraunts. To round out the day we stopped at Boundary Bay Brewery for dinner and were treated to some impromptu Irish dance courtesy of a local school.

So tomorrow we've decided to head south to Stevens Pass ski area in hopes that conditions are a bit friendlier. My hope is that due to it's higher elevation we'll be above the fog. But we've decided that conditions be damned, we're gonna give it our best shot.