01-19-2012, 12:51 AM
Just got back from Mt Baker (2.5 hours from Seattle).
This place was mfn' awesome. Got about 24 inches of new snow while we were riding there resulting in a base of over 100 inches from top to bottom. I've never ridden powder conditions like that in my life. It was actually kinda hard at first because I wasn't used to riding with my weight on the back foot to keep the tip up.
Mt Baker itself is about a medium-sized resort, with probably the best ski lodge food I've ever had by a good margin. The nearby town is called Glacier but it is well and truly tiny. Not a lot of lodging to be found there. There isn't any night life to speak of so it's not a party spot but if you want to attack the mountain it fits the bill. Apparently it gets the most snow in the contiguous United States.
I'd say it's not a particularly good mountain for beginners because there aren't many green runs but on the other hand there's so much powder that falling doesn't usually hurt. For advanced people there's plenty of cool sidecountry/backcountry paths to take, but with so much snow there's a high risk of avalanches. Some spots they won't let you go out of bounds without a beacon.
One thing that is really surprising about Mt Baker is that the lift lines are really short. Only on Sunday did we have to wait more than 5 minutes to get on a lift, on the other days usually there'd only be 3 or less groups of people in front of us when we got to the bottom of a lift. Even more surprising considering that lift tickets were $52.
Unfortunately my weekend got cut short, because on the last day I failed to land a jump and sprained my MCL. The tip of the board dug in and bent my knee sideways. Got a knee brace on right now, probably won't be able to ride for 3 weeks =/
This place was mfn' awesome. Got about 24 inches of new snow while we were riding there resulting in a base of over 100 inches from top to bottom. I've never ridden powder conditions like that in my life. It was actually kinda hard at first because I wasn't used to riding with my weight on the back foot to keep the tip up.
Mt Baker itself is about a medium-sized resort, with probably the best ski lodge food I've ever had by a good margin. The nearby town is called Glacier but it is well and truly tiny. Not a lot of lodging to be found there. There isn't any night life to speak of so it's not a party spot but if you want to attack the mountain it fits the bill. Apparently it gets the most snow in the contiguous United States.
I'd say it's not a particularly good mountain for beginners because there aren't many green runs but on the other hand there's so much powder that falling doesn't usually hurt. For advanced people there's plenty of cool sidecountry/backcountry paths to take, but with so much snow there's a high risk of avalanches. Some spots they won't let you go out of bounds without a beacon.
One thing that is really surprising about Mt Baker is that the lift lines are really short. Only on Sunday did we have to wait more than 5 minutes to get on a lift, on the other days usually there'd only be 3 or less groups of people in front of us when we got to the bottom of a lift. Even more surprising considering that lift tickets were $52.
Unfortunately my weekend got cut short, because on the last day I failed to land a jump and sprained my MCL. The tip of the board dug in and bent my knee sideways. Got a knee brace on right now, probably won't be able to ride for 3 weeks =/
2018 Ducati Panigale V4
Past: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, 2015 Yamaha R1, 2009 BMW M3, 2013 Aprilia RSV4R, 2006 Honda Ridgeline, 2006 Porsche Cayman S, 2012 Ducati 1199, 2009 Subaru WRX, 2008 CBR1000RR, 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2000 Toyota Tundra, 2005 Honda CBR600RR, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1997 Honda Civic EX
http://www.aclr8.com
Past: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, 2015 Yamaha R1, 2009 BMW M3, 2013 Aprilia RSV4R, 2006 Honda Ridgeline, 2006 Porsche Cayman S, 2012 Ducati 1199, 2009 Subaru WRX, 2008 CBR1000RR, 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2000 Toyota Tundra, 2005 Honda CBR600RR, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1997 Honda Civic EX
http://www.aclr8.com