Mt Baker,Washington (USA)- Mt Baker is located in Washington State in the Northwest-most Corner of the United States. Bellingham is the closest major city with a population of 100,000 people. Follow the 542east signs from Bellingham as the windy highway goes through towns such as Kendall, Maple Falls, and Glacier before the road becomes beautiful national forest land. The drive becomes amazing with green mossy old growth trees, and views of the Nooksack River along the way. It operates the lifts from November until the end of April. As of May, Mt Baker received 804 inches of snowfall. This year we had so many days of powder that it didn’t stop raining in the city for 30 days. Just Imagine how much snow that was in the mountains. Mt Baker is host to the Banked Slalom Race, the first snowboard contest ever. It has been a race for 22 years now through the mountains unique natural halfpipe. Mt Baker is well known for the amount of legendary cliffs, steep lines, and powder jumps. One of the most amazing places to build a jump is the Mt Baker Road Gap(see photo).
This is a zone where you can build an insane jump over two lanes of traffic. Another place to build one is Grandma’s, which is full off steep transitions perfect for shaping a big booter. Mt Baker is truly a dreamland for riders hoping to have a good time. Every type of terrain can be found here, and there is snow nearly year round.
Washington State is home to some of the most intense riding you could imagine outside of AK. My favorite thing is the amount of riders out there who do it day in day out through the foggy days and windy snowstorms, in search of the deep pow. Some days at Baker will be stormy all morning and if you wait it out, the sun lets loose while 15 of your closest buddies all scurry off for one of the epic lines: Hairy Scary, Pea Gardens, Chair 7 extreme, The Arm, Hemi’s, Sticky Trees, Elf Chutes, and much more. Wear a backpack with transceiver and shovel, cause avalanches are no joke. Be ready for anything in Baker’s backcountry, ride with a few friends so you have some backup. If you can keep up with one of the locals, you’ll find endless fresh lines. The snowfall here was so deep this season that they had to close the lifts on two separate occasions for snow-control work.
Interesting fact: that mountain you see in the background of almost every Baker shot is Mt Shuksan, not Mt Baker, which is actually located behind the ski area. The place where the lifts operate is called Heather Meadows.-
JDubs
“At Baker you might get rained on from time to time, and may not see the sun for weeks, but with over 200”of base, you won’t be scraping up any rocks.”-
Sam Giffin
“Mt. Baker has heavy wet snow that tapers to a perfect light champagne top surface. The wet snow bonds to lower layers and sticks to steep slopes and the lighter snow on top makes it soft and fast.” -
Zack Giffin Mt. Baker Snow Controller
“This mountain is a hidden gem, only people find it can reap its rewards! Relentless snow like it just keeps puking everyday”
Tarek Husevold
“The secrets are endless no matter how long you have been there. There’s no place like it anywhere else. ”
Nathan Lind
“When riding other resorts they seem to blend together. Mt Baker is different everyday, always a new experience. The snow falls so rapidly that the features change, giving a rider a potpourri of new terrain to slaughter.”
Patrick McCarthy
