Mt. BAKER, WASHINGTON, USA, APRIL 29th 2007

Mt. Baker is a unique ski resort in several ways:
1) It is the northwestern most ski resort in the lower 48 states
2) It gets the most snow of any ski resort in the world (about 100 feet of snow - not inches or
centimeters - in 1996)
3) It was the first resort to adopt snow boarders and a unique boarding culture has grown there over
the years
4) It gets the most dismal weather of any resort in the world (I'm guessing)

With all these superlatives it was a crime that a die-hard ski traveler like myself had never been there,
at least in the winter months. With that in mind I planned a one-day trip to Baker last spring. It
coincided with the visit from my folks who were up from California for a few days. I come from a
skiing family but for various reasons I'm the only one who has stuck with the sport over the years. The
others in my family have dropped it for various medical, economic and climatalogical reasons. I made it
my mission to get my dad and brother re-psyched on skiing and invited them to join my son, Kevin
(14) and daughter, JulieAnne (16) on the trip. Baker has 7 chairlifts spread across a wide, rugged ridge
feature and 1,500 vertical feet.

First I had to round up skis from my brother, Rick (48) and my dad (aged 74). I adjusted a 7 year-old
pair of Dynastars that I no longer used for my dad and my brother scrounged up another pair of first-
generation shaped skis from a friend of his. We set off at 7:00 AM, got some espresso in Redmond,
and hit I-405 northbound for the 3 hour trip. We drove north through the Seattle suburbs finally hitting
open country north of Everett and the Tulalip Indian casino. We left I-5 at Burlington and cut over to
the much more scenic Highway 9. This winding, rolling road passes small farms and homesteads for 20
miles until it joins up with Highway 542 where it crosses the Nooksack River. At this point we are very
close to the wildest part of the North Cascades and the Canadian border. We tracked east on
Highway 542 stopping in the tiny town of Glacier for lunch supplies. After another 10 or so miles
following the Nooksack we started the steep climb up to the ski area. All around us are the towering
peaks of the North Cascades with sharp towers and hanging glaciers. Rising over them all is Mt.
Shuksan, one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. Eventually we reached the ski area and
parked. This was the last day of the year for Mt. Baker so the die hards were out in full force in the
parking lot. It was a real tail gate atmosphere with barbecues going, dogs running around, beer,
probably a little pot here and there.

We bought tickets and schlepped over to chair 7 for the first run. I didn't know what to expect from
my brother and dad. Both were clearly out of shape and neither had done much skiing for years. My
brother was once a serious ski bum who moved to Denver for the sole purpose of skiing. He once
lived out of the back of his Toyota pickup and bummed around the west for 2 months skiing all over.
When I was in high school, my dad, brother and I used to ski in Utah and Colorado a couple of times
a year living out of the back of our VW van. Serious dirt-bag stuff. I was soon to discover how much
had changed. At the top of chair 7 we assembled and picked our common destination - something
simple like the bottom chair 7. JulieAnne, Kevin and I kicked off and skied about a 100 yards,
stopped and waited to re-group. And waited, and waited and waited. My dad and brother never
showed up. What the hell could have happened in 100 yards of snow?? We eventually skied down to
the bottom, rode back up and after a couple of laps we eventually re-united. It turns out both my
brother and dad had stepped out of the bindings from the get-go. Oh brother. What did I get myself in
to?

My dad decided to stick to the easy slopes on chair 7 while my brother skied with my kids and I. My
dad never did get the hang of it and I think it frustrated him out of skiing for another 5 years. He has a
hard time getting enthusiastic about anything other than George Bush these days.

The rest of us hit it for the top of the mountain and skied the wide-open slopes off chair 8. This is fast,
wide-open, cruising terrain with plenty of rolls, ledges, berms and other features thrown in to make it
very interesting indeed. To top it off, Mt. Shuksan looms above the whole thing creating the most
awesome ski resort backdrop I've ever seen. I was told by several people that Shuksan is usually in
the clouds and that we hit it on one of the rare clear days.

We played in the terrain park a little and took a couple of fast runs through the berms before we struck
out to explore the rest of the area. We skied to the bottom of chair 5 where 2 other chairs launch from.
We took a lap off chair 6 and one off chair 3 before heading back for lunch. Chair 6 has some steep
bump runs that I would have been up for but my daughter doesn't like moguls and I didn't think my
brother could handle it so that will have to wait for another trip.

We had lunch outside the white salmon day lodge and met some of the baker locals who are legend
here in the northwest. The Mt. Baker ski culture got its start from the dirt-bag boarders who attended
Western Washington University in Bellingham, 50 miles away. It's a mix of boarder bum, grunge and
general Washington State laid-backness. The area also attracts those who like to ski fresh snow every
day as Baker gets 400-600 inches of snow in an average year.

After lunch we headed up to chair 6 and hiked up to the top of panorama dome for a view of Mt.
Baker itself (a 10,000 foot dormant volcano). Alas, Baker itself was in the clouds so we couldn't see it.
As an aside, the ski area is actually not on Mt. Baker but on a ridge between Baker and Shuksan. We
skied down to the bottom of chair 1, went up chair 3 and back to chair 5. For the next two hours we
skied the open slopes off chair 8 which we all agreed were the best on the mountain.

Eventually we were skied out (my dad had quit early) and went back to the car. We loaded up
amongst all the dogs and dirt bags in the parking lot and left for home. It was an awesome day of skiing
and I will definitely have to hit Baker again some day. Even though Baker has a modest 1,500 feet of
vertical it skis much bigger than this. It reminded me of a smaller version of Mammoth Mountain in
California, very open with lots of terrain. It's definitely out of the way even for Washingtonians but
worth the trip especially if you get it with good weather - try for an April day.

David Howe, aged 48, is a life-long skier originally from California but residing in Washington State for
the past 12 years. He is a masters racer in the Pacific Northwest and regularly clocks 40 or so ski days
a year, mostly at his home hill at the Summit at Snoqualmie.