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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 |
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Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor
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 |
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Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor
"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 |
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Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor
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! |
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Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor
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Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor
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. |
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Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor
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! |
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Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor
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 |
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Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor
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. |
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Trip Report - Mt. Baker / Mt. Bachelor
"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. |
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