Mt Baker, WA

Mt. Baker is old school, and that’s the way we like it. As much as the ski/snowboard industry has changed over the past 20 years, you may be surprised at how little that change is noticed at a place like Mt. Baker. First of all, the mountain is remote. So much that to be a local in any degree requires a lot of commitment. The mountain is an hour and a half from the nearest city, and the closest place to stay is 30 minutes away in a town called Glacier, which has 2 places to drink, no cell phone service and no motels. To come to Mt. Baker is to truly get away from the city, the industry, and the bull. The management takes a lot of pride in keeping it that way too. We have no high-speed chairs, we still use wickets, we don’t have a modern park, and we don’t have any corporate sponsorship or foreign investors. In other words, we have nothing to distract us from simply hanging out with our friends and riding some of the coolest terrain on earth. Being a local here means riding in the blowing rain at least 15 days a season, it means you are going to put 7000 miles on your car, sacrifice job opportunities, spend all of your money, end relationships, and fall off the face of the earth. I’ve had my best and worst days snowboarding here, and I stay here to ride for those times it all comes together and the world is perfect. It’s no lie that the natural terrain and massive snowfall are what bring people here to visit, but to call a mountain home there has to be more to it than that. I love Mt. Baker because of how it has changed me as a rider and as a person. I love the friendships I’ve made here, and unlike some locals, I even love the visitors (it’s obvious, by the way). It’s because at the end of the day we’ve all got to deal with soaking gear, get back in our cars and drive home having earned every bit of it.