Last night I headed up to Bellingham to stay with Chelsea. (Thanks Chelsea!) That let me get an early start on my trip to Baker. I made it there in time for first chair and they had about 15 inches of fresh snow. Seems like the start of a good day.
Unfortunately, it was warm. The freezing point was about 500 feet below the base of the lift so the snow was very wet and heavy. Anything that hadn't been packed down by the groomers required a lot of concentration and skill. I had the first, but apparently not the second. On my second run, I headed off the path and promptly bit it. As I brushed the snow out of my face and looked up at my feet, I saw that only one ski was attached. Bad news. I spent the next forty five minutes digging through the snow with my pole trying to find the lost ski. Sure I want new skis, but I'd rather not be forced to by them. I was praying a lot during that time, and thankfully I finally found it just as I was about to give up.
I promptly headed to the ski shop and happily overpayed for ski leashes and a balaclava. Why the face mask? Oh, I forgot to mention, the wind was blowing at least 30-40 mph and it was still puking snow. There were periods when I was completely encased in blowing snow. It's a weird feeling when you're sliding down a hill and have no idea where you're going or even which end is up.
When I stopped for lunch, I was talking to some locals about the weather. One skier said he found a guy buried up to his head in the snow. The guy was an extreme skier from Tahoe who had jumped off a 40 foot cliff and sank in up to his head. Luckily some people saw it happen, and they were able to dig him out after about 20 minutes.
I ended up leaving around 1 when they closed most of the lifts due to the wind. It's a shame. Baker is a fantastic resort, and I didn't really get a fair shot at it. It's the birthplace of snowboarding and the ski resort that got the most snow last year (over 600".) I'll definitely be going back. It will take more than a little wind to keep me from that place.
(Pictures posted)
There are a few movies that define the Christmas season. For me, it isn't Christmas if I don't want Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story. Recently I've started throwing Elf into the mix as well. It looks like this year I'll be able to enjoy the first two in HDDVD thanks to Warner's new releases. The original Christmas Story DVD came in Dolby 1.0. Yes that's right, 1.0. The center speaker is the only one that is used. I can only hope that they have remastered the audio track.
[via engadgetHD]