Powder Pursuit mt.Baker
Powder Pursuit
In retrospect, if I had to choose one place in the world to be this winter it would have been somewhere on the coast of California. The weather phenomenon described as El Nino provided countless opportunities for surfers to put their toes on the nose as waves rolled in with unheard of consistency. For those of us chasing snow rather than waves, this season has meant really being on your toes when it comes to storm forecasting if you want your nose anywhere near fresh powder.
During the last couple of months our crew has put about 7000 miles on our odometers (tack on a couple thousand for the scandinavian members of the crew who flew in). The pursuit has lead us from Washington, to Jackson, SLC to South Lake and finally back, full circle to the Pacific Northwest. On the road, we encountered cowboys and cops, wildlife and weather, a full spectrum of snow conditions, and managed to get some shots along the way.
At this point we're one week into April. The Easter Bunny really came through for us last weekend by bringing more than a few baskets full of snow to Mt. Baker. The storm dropped in cold, with more winter-like freezing levels than we've seen in quite a while. Many locals agreed that Saturday ended up being one of the deepest days of the season.
While we had high hopes of sending it over the Mt. Baker road gap on Saturday, the heavy snow (and then a forest service officer) kept us from achieving our goal. Despite the forecast saying the opposite, Sunday proved everyone wrong by being sunny, and perfect for hitting the world famous jump. It was amazing to see how tiny cars look when the drive beneath the takeoff. Within a few attempts, both Juuso and Eric landed tricks over it. We were all really happy to break our unlucky streak, which included one of our backcountry spots getting high-marked by a snowmobiler and the legal speed bump the day earlier.
On the mountain, the good visibility opened up opportunities for Baker's finest to shine. Tales of Tory Bland, and Forrest Burki filtered in at the tap room from wide eyed witnesses' like Scotty Wittlake. There were also some large, naturally released fractures, looming ominously in backcountry so hopefully everyone managed to stay safe.
Anything goes in April. With an abundance of available daylight, late Spring can be a great time of year to ride powder, or, if the temps spike, to get to work on your sun tan while the snow turns to mud. Winter one week, summer the next. We're hanging on, for now.
Justin
