FINALLY. Mt. Baker started up its lifts for the 2007-08 season to what has been historically rare at the mountain – a bluebird sky. Even though the base was lower than previous opening days, a combination of cold temps, no wind, and blower snow made up for it. Locals wasted no time tearing up the mountain’s technical lines, not wanting to waste the good light. Even the “Beast,” a famous Baker back country line that terminates with a early season mandatory 60 footer, had a single line drop form its face. Insane!

The rest of the day went off without a hitch, as I finished it with up and coming riders Jens Perrin, Kyle Sanford, Casey Desmond, Sean McKillop and “one hell of a skier,” Tucker Havekost, whose personal ability and potential is something to witness.

To finish the weekend, Mt. Baker saw sun breaks on Friday, making way for a relaxed backcountry day. The highlight of the day saw local rider Ricky Seaton showboating a huge air above Chair 8, only to land on the only sapling in sight. The wreck resulted in an extreme G-force tomahawk, much to the amusement of the many onlookers. However, with the end of the day came Mt. Baker’s infamous “flat light.” To be honest, I actually missed it.

Like the first day of school after summer break, opening weekend is always full of catching up and summer-end’s reunions. Every one was just simply glad to be back on the snow having a good time. Even the Nations Foundation* videoographer Jaro Savol took a rare day off from behind the lens saturday to enjoy some quality schralping with old friends. After the closing bell, Jens Perrin and Casey Desmond stayed late to session some challenging features that made for some interesting pictures.

The 9 inches reported by Mt. Baker on Sunday was deceptive. To quote Zach Davison after taking his first turns of the day: “This is the deepest 9 inches of my life!” Then the Pineapple Express kicked in and it really started pounding down snow. Suddenly it felt like 20 inches rather than 9. The winds started picking up, some gusts hitting well over 60 mph, forcing the ski hill to grind to a close at 2:30. I can’t even imagine what riding through the trees would have been like if the day hadn’t been cut short.

Inside the lodge, with traffic in total gridlock outside, there were rumors of an avalanche taking out the road below. This immediately caused the line for beer to quadruple in size. Some rather heavy drinking and yelling shortly ensued. I got to the bottom of the rumor and found out that the bartender was behind it all in order to boost beer sales. Smart man!

Overall, this had to be one of the best opening weekends on record. On more than one occasion while sitting on the lift throughout the weekend, I was so proud to see my friends rip lines under the chair and hear all the whooping, whistling and “holy S#!t did you see that guy/girl” coments. I even had one couple from Vermont ask me, “Does everybody here do this professionally?” I replied, “Most of us aren’t… but we’re all crazy obsessed and generally stoked to be in the mountains”. The couple’s question made me think of an old quote torn from Snowboarder magazine that a good friend has had on his wall for over a decade:


Every snowboarder can be found on one path or another, reaching new heights, on and above the snow.
This drive is as much a fuel for the soul of snowboarding as the powder, the peaks, the people and places that we come across when sliding sideways on snow.

-Unknown-
(but if you do know please let me know!)


*The Nations Foundation is a non-profit Christian organization that aims to provide guidance to a positive lifestyle through forward-thinking snowboard films. If your interested check em’ out at www.nationsfoundation.org .