Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor

Figured I'd give a little back since I got such great feedback prior
to my trip. Here's my Baker/Bachelor trip report...


* MT. BAKER * 12/28 - 12/30
http://www.mtbaker.us/

Day 1 - lots of fresh snow. 30" storm total.
Day 2 - amazing blue clear sunny day after the storm
Day 3 - mix of clouds and such

Mt. Baker was great. I cannot say enough good things about
this town, the mountain, and the people. I have been to a lot
of mountains on powder days but I have never been to a mountain
where there was such a stoked emotion from everyone on the hill.
You just got the feel that it was everybody's home mountain and
on our first morning everyone was coming down from runs with big
smiles, hootin' and hollerin...you really shared the day with all.

Now for us...well, the first couple runs took some getting
used to. In the morning, the powder was heavy. Not wet, mind
you, but dense. Those who ski it know what I mean but it took some
changes in technique to learn to board this without pitching forward!
Just the resistance of knee deep powder on your ankles was a lesson.
The locals of course screamed through it and we picked it up soon
enough. By afternoon the snow had actually lightened up and cool
dry nights seemed to dry/lighten it significantly and the 3 days were
fantastic.

As far as runs...heck, its a great mountain. We had fun riding
chair 1 and chair 6 quite a bit. Loved the chute. Played around
in the Canyon a lot which is a bit like Solitude's Honeycomb
Canyon but with more powder, more drop-ins, no traverses, and a
better exit. Also loved the trees next to chair 7. A VERY board
friendly mountain...heck, it seemed like at least 80% of the
people there were on boards!

Go to Baker, stay in Glaciar...its all good, Grahams, the Beer Shrine,
the Mt. Baker Snowboard shop and the Ski shop...super people. I took
my board in for an opinion on a light tune and rather than taking my
money to do some work he told me I'd be better off riding it a couple
more days before bringing it in. I appreciated the honesty. My
friend needed some bindings mounted on a pair of skis and they stayed
late to finish it up so he could ski the next morning.


* MT. BACHELOR * 1/1 - 1/3
http://www.mtbachelor.com/

Day 1 - something like 18-20" of fresh overnight and throughout day
Day 2 - lucked out again with a blue clear sunny day. Wow.
Day 3 - it DUMPED again. the resort snow report actually underbid
the snow report. they claimed no new snow and at the higher
elevation there was significant new snow (not just wind-
blown!) and it also dumped hard all day.

I can not believe I have never been to this mountain. This place
is fantastic. First off, if you travel with a family or non-experts
there is a lot of varied terrain for everyone. For freestyle riders
there is a sick park and for powder hounds the trees are some of the
best I have ever boarded. Sure sometimes it'd be nice to have a
little more pitch in areas, but I have NEVER been able to find so
many untouched powder lines. Heck, even on day 2 which was a crowded
holiday (for them) with no snow coming down we did not run out of
fresh tracks all day. Unbelievable.

Unfortunately for us the Summit did not open which is only unfortunate
because we were told it was a must see, we didn't lack for great runs.
On day one we spent time in the trees to the far left of Rainbow lift.
On days 2 and 3 we boarded the Nortwest Express Quad most of the day
and the trees to the far right. Wow. I have never seen anything like
this...you can traverse over as far as you want and keep finding fresh
lines...and, unlike any other resort I have been to, the exit is a
fast boarder friendly catrack. So there is no need to waste any
vertical getting back to the lift...just blow down any line you like
and you'll be fine.

When we skied the center runs in the resort, we also found friendly
trees and bumps wherever we wanted them. And yes, the fastest quad
lift system I have been on. That Northwest Express zooms you up
2400 feet in no time. Our roundtrip time on that lift was about
40 minutes. Quick ride up and a lot of vertical to ride down in
the trees. There were two of us, so we'd also kind of leapfrog
through the trees, always keeping each other just in sight so
nobody ended up stuck in a tree well.


So yes, I'd go back to either resort in a heartbeat.
I'd hit Baker for 3-4 days with intermediate - advanced riders.
Bachelor would be good for 5+ days due to the varied terrain and
the town of Bend which has lots to do to keep everyone busy.
However, I'd also be perfectly happy going to Baker and spending
every night at Graham's (http://www.grahamsrestaurant.com)

I'd highly recommend either resort the next time you travel out west.

-todd

I'd highly recommend either resort the next time you travel out west.

I'm really glad you enjoyed your trip! You came at an EXCELLENT time.
It doesn't always dump like that, we get east-coast style boilerplate
sometimes too. But when we get hit, we get hit and it's not uncommon
to get freshies for a week straight!

Mike T

"Mike T" wrote in message .. .

I'm really glad you enjoyed your trip! You came at an EXCELLENT time.
...


Yeah, it was great. Thanks again for all the resort and drive time advice.
How was the boarding at Mt. Hood during/after the storm?
We got stuck behind a huge lineup of traffic coming past Timberline and
Ski Bowl on our way back into Portland Saturday evening.

-todd

Yeah, it was great. Thanks again for all the resort and drive time
advice.
How was the boarding at Mt. Hood during/after the storm?
We got stuck behind a huge lineup of traffic coming past Timberline
and
Ski Bowl on our way back into Portland Saturday evening.

Hood has been awesome every day since XMas. Alas, it's back to work
for me today!

(toddjb) wrote in message . com...
"Mike T" wrote in message .. .

I'm really glad you enjoyed your trip! You came at an EXCELLENT time.
...


Yeah, it was great. Thanks again for all the resort and drive time advice.
How was the boarding at Mt. Hood during/after the storm?
We got stuck behind a huge lineup of traffic coming past Timberline and
Ski Bowl on our way back into Portland Saturday evening.

-todd

I was in that lineup too. I figured there would at least be some sort
of accident up there. Took us two and a half hours from HRM down to
Sandy. The freshies were worth it though.

Hey, great post.

Mount Baker sounds really good, I gotta get up there to check that out
now.

I love bachelor... if you were there during this last dump, lucky
lucky you :P. I actually don't like the summit that much... when the
weather is nice enough for it to be open, the snow is usually slushy.
I hear there's fantastic out of bounds to be had along the backside of
the mountain though. And it is cool to take a lift all the way to the
very top.

Northwest express at Bachelor is fantastic. Great terrain, long
vertical, short ride up, and usually not that crowded. I'm heading to
Bachelor at the end of this month and you've got me totally stoked now
.

The traffic on the pass over Mt Hood can be pretty bad. Saterday was
actually not as bad as it was the weekend after christmas. The snow
here was fantastic this weekend. I had two great days, and one run
that is the best run I've ever had: fresh untracked line on heather
canyon. I've never felt anything like that, just making lazy mild
turns at warp speed on a steep slope. Now I understand people who hike
hours for just one run off piste.

I was in that lineup too. I figured there would at least be some sort
of accident up there. Took us two and a half hours from HRM down to
Sandy. The freshies were worth it though.

The only way to avoid traffic on weekends / holidays to Hood is to get
there early (I typically arrive before 8:00 at Meadows, time to stretch
out and still catch morning freshies on Mt Hood Express) and leave early
(before 2:00 generally gets one out before traffic gets bad).

Man, what a week we just had!

I had two great days, and one run
that is the best run I've ever had: fresh untracked line on heather
canyon. I've never felt anything like that, just making lazy mild
turns at warp speed on a steep slope. Now I understand people who hike
hours for just one run off piste.

That was one hell of a run, wasn't it!!!

Mike T

That was one hell of a run, wasn't it!!!

no s**t!

I was following jim on the traverse right, and he was just screaming
along the ropeline. I followed him and dropped through the trees where
I thought he was, and couldn't see anyone. I saw someone way right
heading into the creekbed below absolute magnitude, and thought that
was one of you.

So I just bombed it straight down the fall line... no fear on a powder
day :P. So fast, so much fun. I've never gotten to do high speed
powder like that, it's incredible. When I got down there then I saw
you guys crossing the snow bridge to my left, so I realized you must
have cut back to the left and I missed you. Imagine my surprise
realizing I somehow got ahead of you ;P.

To bad my legs were spent after that one run. I really wish I'd taken
it easy on saterday instead so I could have killed it all day sunday.
Ohh well.

"Mike T" wrote

The only way to avoid traffic on weekends / holidays to Hood is to get
there early (I typically arrive before 8:00 at Meadows, time to stretch
out and still catch morning freshies on Mt Hood Express) and leave early
(before 2:00 generally gets one out before traffic gets bad).

What? Get off the slopes at 2? Are you crazy? 8-)
This is actually why I sometimes prefer Stevens to Baker -
night runs. Start riding at 9AM and leave at 10PM.