Couldn't see much of the mountain from the carpark but I was hoping to get something that looked cool. There was a small break in the clouds, for a minute, so I was able to at least snatch some of the mountain, kind of illustrates the day well i guess.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Mt Baker
Made a little trip with Keith and Nick down to Black Mountain ranch, not far from Mount Baker, Washington state, USA. Headed down in the evening, crossed the border and got dragged in to the building cos I'm an alien. Made it to the cabin and chilled with beers and a long winded game of monopoly. Crashed at about 2 and looked forward to hitting the mountain in the morning.
When I woke at about 7, it had been snowing for some time, it was great to see white everywhere. We had a breakfast burrito at the local cafe and then headed up the mountain. It was snowing quite heavily and the road was quite well covered.
It was the busiest Keith had ever seen it, but lift lines were still just a minute or two. It snowed on the mountain all day, and at the top visibility was quite limited. Depth perception on the first couple of hundred metres was challenging, it was very tough to negotiate how steep the terrain was or how deep the snow was.
It was a totally new environment to me, and I loved every minute of it. My skills improved rapidly and by the end of the day I was zipping along nicely. I stopped up top a couple of times just to admire the view and all the snow. It was just so startling beautiful. I found a few fresh powder spots that hadn't been found in between a couple of runs, and for the first time I glided through "powder". The feeling was sensational, and left me wanting more. I cant wait to board at Whistler :)
we headed home again in the dark after a beer and managed to sneak our way around a 70 min wait at the border back into Canada. Wish we could have stayed longer, the next day on the mountain would have been even better, it was still snowing when we left.
When I woke at about 7, it had been snowing for some time, it was great to see white everywhere. We had a breakfast burrito at the local cafe and then headed up the mountain. It was snowing quite heavily and the road was quite well covered.
It was the busiest Keith had ever seen it, but lift lines were still just a minute or two. It snowed on the mountain all day, and at the top visibility was quite limited. Depth perception on the first couple of hundred metres was challenging, it was very tough to negotiate how steep the terrain was or how deep the snow was.
It was a totally new environment to me, and I loved every minute of it. My skills improved rapidly and by the end of the day I was zipping along nicely. I stopped up top a couple of times just to admire the view and all the snow. It was just so startling beautiful. I found a few fresh powder spots that hadn't been found in between a couple of runs, and for the first time I glided through "powder". The feeling was sensational, and left me wanting more. I cant wait to board at Whistler :)
we headed home again in the dark after a beer and managed to sneak our way around a 70 min wait at the border back into Canada. Wish we could have stayed longer, the next day on the mountain would have been even better, it was still snowing when we left.
Christmas
So after having a christmas eve party shut down just before midnight, I headed up to Mount Seymour on a beautifully sunny Christmas day. The snow was reasonable considering the conditions, but the highlight of the day was both my ability to stay upright after 3 years since last snowboarding, and the magnificent view of greater Vancouver from the top of the mountain. I layer of broken cloud added to the ambience of the mountain. It was pretty busy for a xmas day, i suspect due to the weather. I was so warm i ended up wearing my jacket open with just a tshirt underneath. Hot shower and beers capped off my first day boarding on the north shore well. Looking forward to Grouse and Cypress at some point soon too.
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