Mount Baker Experience Spring 2016 by Point Roberts Press

Spring 2016

Adventures in the Pacific Northwest

Inside Arcâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Teryx

New avy airbag technology

3 Snow-free hikes

Spring hikes in the wild nearby

Almost famous

24 volcanoes, 6 weeks, 4 women on splitboards mountbakerexperience.com

special publication of The Northern Light

THE SNOWPACK IS BACK REGISTER

TODAY

MT. BAKER TO BELLINGHAM BAY BELLINGHAM, WA

MAY 29, 2016

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Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

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Welcome to

BREAKFAST

• Breakfast sandwiches • Burritos • Biscuits & gravy • Mini-quiche • Hash browns

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Pre-orders welcome - order on your way up the mountain, pick up dinner on the way down. Call in your order!

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Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

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EXPERIENCE

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Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

By Pat Grubb

in this issue

s I write this introduction, a highlight of winter is about to begin: the 30th Legendary Banked Slalom, February 18–21. It would have been the 31st slalom except for a little issue with no snow last year. No matter – that just means there is twice the anticipation and excitement built up for this year’s running of the gates. We’re sad to report that this issue is editor Ian Ferguson’s last up at bat. He’s headed back home to New Hampshire with plans to start his own outdoor adventure magazine. We wish him well and very much appreciate all that he achieved with this magazine; it’s come a long way thanks to him. We’re happy to report that Oliver Lazenby will be taking over where Ian left off. An outdoors enthusiast, Oliver is also the author of Hiking Washington, a guide to the state’s best hikes. Check out Ian’s and Oliver’s story about touring the Bonnington Range. It’s about halfway through the season now and some of you snowboarders might be a little twisted. Well, Luca has some great advice on how to restore balance to your body. Jason Martin gives us an overview of climbing etiquette while Mallory Estenson does a pretty fine job in convincing us to try ice climbing. Have you bought a Fitbit yet? If not, you might consider Steve’s cautionary tale. Farther afield, Corey Tarilton relates his experiences while bikepacking in Chile and Argentina on a limited budget. There’s lots more so enjoy!

Almost Famous Volcano TOUR

Maria Debari and friends ride the cascade crest

Photo\Lauren Dunn

Photo\Oliver Lazenby

Bikepacking Chile

3 Snow-Free hikes

A break from winter in S. America

Spring hiking around Mt. Baker

Who builds the skis Westerlies Skis in Bellingham

12 Snowboard stretching Self-help for snowboarders

21 Rome Grocery

An underlying feeling of good

22 Photo Gallery

Showcase of spring action

Photo\Oliver Lazenby

Shuksan

Official Mascot of Mount Baker Experience

Photo\Freya Fennwood

Spring2016

Publisher’s Note

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

Selkirk huts Adventure skiing

30 The one fitbit

How to taunt your relatives

32 Prime Ice

Learn about ice climbing

36 Spring Events

Happenings and shindigs

38 Spring Gear guide

Gear for warmer weather

14 Photo\Jason Martin

Glacier techniques Keeping your cool on the ice

40 Dining and Lodging

Where to stay and eat

42 DNR Recreation

Planning for 86,000 acres

INSIDE ARC’Teryx

New avy airbag technology

Photo\Andy Basabe

Magic S glacier Splitboard touring

Photo\Oliver Lazenby

MountBakerExperience.com

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE PUBLISHERS Patrick Grubb and Louise Mugar Editors Ian Ferguson • Oliver Lazenby Publication Design Doug De Visser Copy Editor Kara Furr OFFICE MANAGER Amy Weaver

STAFF WRITERS Steven Guntli • Kara Furr

ADVERTISING DESIGN Ruth Lauman • Doug De Visser ADVERTISING SALES Catherine Darkenwald • Janet McCall Molly Ernst • Judy Fjellman

CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE: Brad Andrew, Andy Basabe, Radka Chapin, Lauren Dunn, Mallorie Estenson, Freya Fennwood, Grant Gunderson, Jason Hummel, Justin Kious, Reuben Krabbe, Jason Martin, Brandon Sawaya, Cory Tarilton, Luca Williams EMAIL: info@mountbakerexperience.com

Contributors Contributors MBE Spring 2016

bradAndrew

Brad Andrew is a Bellingham based freelance action sports photographer. He spends his winters chasing the snow looking for the perfect spot to make the perfect image. He is a husband, father and a student of life.

andyBasabe Andy is an educator in Whatcom County. Some of his days are best for words, others for walking. Everyday for eating.

radkaChapin Radka Chapin is an avid alpine climber and backcountry skier who never leaves the house without her camera.

WEB: www.mountbakerexperience.com

jasonhummel

Jason is an outdoor photographer from Washington who has documented numerous first descents in the North Cascades. Alpinestateofmind.com

JustinKious Born and raised in the pacific N.W. Constantly trying to capture fresh lines.

reubenKrabbe Reuben aims to photograph not only the athletes in front of his lens, but moreover the soul, culture, community and natural beauty that defines the lives of his subjects. He lives in Whistler, B.C.

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/mtbakerexperience TWITTER: twitter.com/MB_Experience iNSTAGRAM: instagram.com/mtbakerexp If you can see Mt. Baker, you’re part of the experience. Mount Baker Experience is an outdoor recreation guide for and about the Mt. Baker region, distributed from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. and published by Point Roberts Press, Inc. Locally owned, the company also publishes The Northern Light, All Point Bulletin, Pacific Coast Weddings, Waterside and area maps. Vol. XXX, No. 1. Printed in Canada. ©2016 POINT ROBERTS PRESS 225 Marine Drive, Blaine, WA 98230 TEL: 360/332-1777 NEXT ISSUE Summer 2016 • Out late May Hike • Bike • Climb • Paddle Ad reservation deadine: April 22

ON THE COVER Mike and Andy Traslin and Jeff Rich cross the Forbidden Glacier in the North Cascades. Photo by Jason Hummel. Alpinestateofmind.com SPRING 2016

laurenDunn Lauren is a yoga instructor, outdoor enthusiast and naturalist. Originally from Utah, she migrated to Montana for new mountain views, tasteful microbrews, and good ol’ college. Visit her at botanicalyogiexplorer.blogspot.com

mallorieEstenson Mallorie Estenson is a climber, writer and photographer based in Bellingham. She lives her life on the cusp of being considered a dirtbag, and likes it that way.

freyaFennwood Specializing in action adventure sports photography, Freya shoots with an emphasis on authenticity and real people doing what they love.

grantgunderson

jasonmartin Jason is a mountain guide, general manager at American Alpine Institute and a widely published outdoor writer. He lives in Bellingham with his wife and two young children.

brandonSawaya Kayaking, mountain biking and mountaineering were all becoming so boring and tame. So Brandon decided to start a family. He is an image maker living in Bellingham. Brandonsawaya.com

coryTarilton Cory focuses on capturing imagery of friends and family as they experience the journey of life. He monitors endangered fish habitat in the summers and travels the snows of the Northwest during winter. You can see his work at corytarilton.com

lucaWilliams

ADVENTURES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

One of the ski industry’s pre-eminent photographers, Grant has shot for every major snow sports and outdoor publication worldwide. Grantgunderson.com

INSIDE ARC’TERYX

New avy airbag technology

3 SNOW-FREE HIKES

Spring hikes in the wild nearby

ALMOST FAMOUS

24 volcanoes, 6 weeks, 4 women on splitboards MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

Luca Williams is a Certified Rolfer in Glacier, WA. She helps snowboarders, skiers, and other outdoor enthusiasts to get aligned and out of pain. Check out her website lucasrolfing. com or her blog movingwithgravity.wordpress.com.

SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NORTHERN LIGHT

Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

What makes a

Ski Builder? A chat with

Alex Turner of Westerlies Skis

By Andy

met Alex Turner when we were in high school, standing in a garage at a party held by Western Washington University’s Ski and Snowboard Club. Face-to-face, we looked at each other, each convinced that we were the youngest person there. The hesitant introductions of youth followed. Each claiming to be 17, we resorted to showing each other our driver’s licenses to prove our ages. As I pulled mine out of my pocket, he pulled his out of his shoe, hidden there in case we had to speak to police later that night. Two years later, Alex was taking time off from Evergreen State University. Needing to ski, he rented a room for the winter in Glacier, rejuvenated himself through skiing, and then went on to Mount Hood for the spring. He and 14 friends squatted in the woods in a closed campground near Mt. Hood. While hitchhiking back to camp after skiing, serendipity found him sandwiched next to Lucas Merle, a kindred spirit. In the bed of a truck, holding his skis, Lucas told Alex about his plans to attend Quest University, in Squamish, B.C., that fall. Lucas spoke of access to skiing and higher education, both in short supply during Alex’s time at Evergreen. Alex enrolled at Quest, earning a videography scholarship based on his work filming skiing. Inspired by his surroundings, Alex and his roommates welded a ski press in their garage. As everyone moved on after graduating, Alex took the ski press home to his parents’ garage in Bellingham, and set about making skis, snowboards and splitboards. His past construction work in Squamish, recovering wood from renovated buildings, helped him connect woodworking and skiing. Following a season spent experimenting with ski-making, interrupted by a few months of commercial fishing in Alaska, coupled with a trip to Patagonia for ski-mountaineering, brings us to today, with Alex explaining how and what he does and what ski building has brought into his life. Winter is woven into his decision-making process, weighing in with whispers over his shoulder.

Andy Basabe: How long have you been making skis? Alex Turner: I’ve been making skis now for the past

two and a half years.

Basabe: What inspired you to make skis? Turner: Initially it started off as an interesting hobby, and

then people were excited about it. I always thought there was

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

potential to do it as a trade, the custom ski and snowboard thing. The inspiration, not for ski building, but for doing it the way I am doing it, is that I strongly feel skiing doesn’t need these giant companies to make it sustainable. When I was in Argentina, in one of the most southern cities in the world, there was an amazing visualization of how winter has been changing over the years. One local ski area hadn’t been open in 15 years for lack of snow, and the town had built another ski area above that. That’s actually where we did most of our skiing, but now it also hasn’t been operating in the past few years because of no snow. We were doing our touring above the top lift. They had built a third ski area, which had an 8-inch base when we were there. The whole time was very sobering, realizing that winter for skiers and snowboarders is going to change a lot faster than for the rest of the world. It’s totally backwards to fly around the world to ski, just as it is to ship gear all over the world. You don’t have to do that. I had already been building skis, but reaffirmed that there was something to be said for building skis at a small scale for the people around you, and sourcing materials locally. It would be sick to look at the carbon footprint of my skis versus commercially produced skis. Right now my goal is to produce skis that are as good if not better than commercial skis.

Basabe

Basabe: Your skis are clearly about the wood – I can see the grain in all the skis. This is a departure from the colors and plastics that cover commercial skis. What’s up with the wood? Turner: Yeah. Most skis and snowboards have wood cores; some have wood veneers. I get sick of seeing advertisement upon advertisement in the mountains. Maybe it’s the Northwest in me, but I like the look of wood more than I like flashy graphics. I try to source my wood locally. I get my wood from a guy who has a line on Alaskan yellow cedar, harvested as incidental cut. It’s dense, light and incredibly good at dampening vibration. Maple and birch are good for pop and binding retention for skis. I get maple and birch from my parents’ property and mill it here. Really good wood if you ask me. Basabe: Describe the skis you would build yourself to rip Baker. Some Turner Crushers. Turner: I’m still trying to find the perfect ski. It’s annoying when you can build your own skis – you want to try a whole bunch of stuff. The next pair will be 186s, about 110 underfoot, pretty much traditional camber, little tip rocker, just a little bit of taper tip and tail and medium sidecut radius. A lot of pop. Basabe: What has ski building taught you? Turner: Patience and attention to detail that I don’t

think I’d had before. It’s taught me a lot about how sticky epoxy is – how it ruins all of your clothes.

Basabe: Where do you see craftsmanship in skiing? Obviously here in the shop, but what about elsewhere? Does craftsmanship have a place on the mountain? Turner: Every part of skiing, from making a turn to making decisions in the backcountry, how many beers at the tailgate before you drive your car down. Also how you operate your ski area. If Baker wanted to, they could check where 8 inches is on a ruler. Print that. Basabe: Where can someone get some of your skis? Turner: From me. Right now, that’s it. There’s a website,

but it’s not ready yet. There’s a Facebook page. Call me. Westerlies, Alex Turner 360/510-5696 5091 Mission Road, Bellingham, WA 98226 the-westerlies.com #westerlies

MountBakerExperience.com

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Bikepacking in Chile and Argentina Story By Cory Tarilton • Photos by Lauren Dunn

any changes signal the end of summer in the Pacific Northwest. The mountains shed their green hues in exchange for vibrant fall colors. The rock climbing gets wet, the trails turn to muck as the hills wait to receive their white blanket of snow in the months to come. It is the perfect time to get away for a few months and see different parts of the world before returning home to a proper winter. Chile and Argentina are two places I have always wanted to travel, and in late 2015, I seized the chance to travel through northern Patagonia by bicycle, bus, foot and thumb with my girlfriend, Lauren Dunn. With a human-powered adventure in mind, we packed our bags and set off for Santiago, Chile in early November. Arriving in the bustle of this Spanish-speaking city was as much of a culture shock as we could have imagined. The constant surge of buses, ceaseless city noise and markets that adorned every side street made for a chaotic scene that wracked our nerves as we tried our best to understand this foreign culture and language. Within a few days, we managed to find decent bikes from a local merchant, and took a bus south to the town of Temuco, 10 hours away. The luxurious overnight bus served as our home for the night, and when we arrived in the wee hours of the morning, we made for the Chilean foothills and countryside. While touring through the farmland and volcanoes, life took on a simpler pace. The daily ritual of packing camp, setting off for the day’s voyage and taking in the sights and smells of the eucalyptus forest eased the mind after a busy summer of work. After a few days by dirt road, we had reached the small town of Puerto Fuy and our first crossing into Argentina. A morning ferry took us across Lago Pirihueico, and after a short stop to get our visas stamped, we made for a small lake and nearby hot springs to soak our road-weary muscles. The mountains of northern Patagonia are full of hot springs feeding off the underground heat from the region’s numerous volcanoes. We pedaled through Argentina’s Road of Seven Lakes and back into the Chilean Lake District for a circuit of the volcanoes. Within the last decade, two of the volcanoes of this region have lost their tops and spewed destruction. Bicycling through dead forests covered in ash and pumice made for a landscape that seemed out of this world.

we set off through the Yosemite of the Southern Hemisphere 10

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

MountBakerExperience.com

After three weeks, we arrived at the town of Puerto Montt. The town has a bustling center and serves as a jump-off for the famous Carretera Austral as well as the desolate roads and fjord towns to the south. Low on funds, we sold our bikes in the town’s market, and bought bus tickets to the tiny town of Cochamó. On our way into Cochamó, we learned of a cross-border trek that would take us close to Bariloche, our ultimate destination. After stocking up on provisions, we set off on this ancient trade route through the Yosemite of the Southern Hemisphere. The route is an historic horse trade path, and has been so eroded over generations that there are 10-foot-deep channels at points where horses have beaten their hooves into the rich coastal soils. Sweeping vistas of towering granite domes girdle both sides of this river valley for miles. The people manning the border outpost were delighted to see visitors, and after another stamp on our passports, we crossed the pass into Argentina again and down into the Rio Manso. The glacial-fed river has a drier climate than the west side, and the water of the Manso is some of the deepest turquoise I have ever seen. As the rainforest dwindled and we trekked into the drier mountains of Argentina, black rock engulfed the sides of the river, contrasting the river’s softer tones. After two more days we reached Route 40 and hitchhiked our way into Bariloche, our destination for the next month, and on to our next adventure.

Best time to travel: Mid-November to the New Year: Great temperatures, good weather, no crowds, but still some rain potential January and February: Reliably good weather, little rain, but more crowds

Places to visit: Villarrica and Pucón, Chile: Lake towns widely known for their nearby adventure sports Vallé Cochamó, Chile: The Yosemite of the southern hemisphere San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina: Outdoor mecca of Northern Patagonia

Travel tips: Cash is king: USD is accepted in most places or can be easily exchanged. Avoid foreign card transaction fees by bringing cash to exchange.

Spanish: Chilean Spanish is a far cry from Castilian Spanish, and lacks many consonants along with having many slang words and conjugations. Argentine Spanish is a little more traditional but still has a unique accent.

Trip totals: 400 miles by bike 60 miles by foot 30 hours by bus

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Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Self-help for snowboarders

How to avoid knee and back pain By Luca WIlliams

nowboarding through powder snow has to be one of the world’s most fun activities. There is nothing like getting a shot of snow in the mouth while laughing as you bank another turn. Those turns are so addictive that snowboarders go even when they are feeling pain or feeling twisted. As a certified Rolfer, I have worked on snowboarders for the last 10 years, helping them get untwisted from their asymmetrical riding stance so they can go back out and turn again and again. It has been 14 years since I snowboarded regularly, but I still miss that whoosh feeling of turning on a sidewall. I wish I had known these simple tips I now give my snowboard clients to help them get untwisted and free of pain. Many of my snowboard clients come suffering from back, knee, neck and shoulder pain. I am going to focus on knee and back pain in this article. I find some of the back and knee pain can be alleviated by simple leg stretches and by fine-tuning the way you skate on your board. Apart from the fact that snowboarding is an asymmetrical sport, while riding at Mt. Baker we deal with a great deal of wet, heavy powder. By weighting the back leg to lift the nose, snowboarders put extra weight on the back leg quadriceps (the big muscles of the front of the thigh). If you have snowboarded heavy powder you can already feel that burn in the front of both of your thighs, but especially the back leg quad. Line up 10 powder snowboarders and I can tell you who is goofy and who is regular just by looking at the size of their respective thighs. After hours on the hill, the muscle and connective tissue of the legs begin to stay shortened and twisted. It is our job to lengthen and untwist that muscle by stretching in the right direction. Stretching is awesome unless you start stretching too aggressively in the wrong direction. You don’t need to stretch for hours to make a difference – just minutes. Before you get your boots on in the lodge or by your car, the easiest stretch to do is the standing quad stretch. Make this part of a daily

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Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

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routine, before and after riding. Stretch both legs, but focus especially on your back snowboarding leg. Your front leg hamstrings (the muscles in the back of the leg) also need to be stretched. Once again, stretch both hamstrings, but spend a little extra time (not aggressively) on the front leg. The easiest way to stretch the hamstrings is to put your foot up on a table or chair and lean forward from the hips slowly. Don’t allow your knee to buckle. In fact, play with stretching your hamstring by bending your knee to different degrees – this will stretch different parts of the back of your leg including your calf! In both of these stretches make sure your hip bones stay even. It is common to let one drop down as part of a pattern. These two stretches are very simple and quick, yet they can prevent or alleviate knee and back pain. As a snowboarder you always spend some time skating to the lifts or through the flat spots if you didn’t get enough speed. So do you skate with your back leg in front or behind the board? Try putting your back leg behind the next time you go snowboarding. Feel the difference? When you skate with your back leg in front, you twist your hips and back inward in order to skate. If you put your back leg behind the board you keep your pelvis more even, and your knee and pelvis won’t get twisted. If you have never tried this it may feel awkward at first but by skating with your leg behind the board, you will save your knees and back with your body in alignment. I used to think pain was a tragedy. I now believe pain is information. If you feel pain during or after riding it is important to listen to it instead of ignoring it. Your body is telling you that something is out of whack. By paying attention to your body mechanics while riding and skating, and by doing gentle stretches, you can continue to snowboard for years to come.

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Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Glacier Travel Etiquette Making it up and down without making enemies Story and photos By Jason Martin

ount Baker is a big and beautiful mountain. The fact that it can be seen from both Seattle and Vancouver is one of the reasons it’s the second most climbed mountain in the state. With nearly 5,000 ascents every year, it’s not surprising that there is occasionally friction between parties on the mountain. Two things can help diffuse a stressful situation between teams: a calm and friendly demeanor, and a basic understanding of mountain etiquette. Climbing etiquette is a weird and wily thing. What is acceptable in one area may not be in another. A common practice in one place may be looked upon with horror in another. In the larger climbing world, there are millions of etiquette questions. But on a glaciated peak in the Pacific Northwest there tends to be only a handful. Following is a quick breakdown of the most common ethical issues mountaineers face on Mount Baker and on other local mountains.

What is the etiquette for passing a rope team on a glacier? A glacier is broad and anyone can walk anywhere, especially when the snow is frozen. When everything is frozen solid, it’s easy to pass. There’s no good reason to follow behind someone in such conditions. However, regardless of conditions – soft or frozen – there is often a boot-pack; many people like to follow it to ensure they are going the right way. In soft snow conditions, the boot-pack is the easiest place to walk, which means everyone follows the same path. This occasionally creates friction, as teams don’t always move at the same pace. It is acceptable to pass a rope team on a glacier in the

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

boot-pack. However, this must be done without hindering the progress of the team you’re passing. If a team has a pace and continues to hold that pace, they have a right to the trail no matter what speed they’re moving. The best way to pass a slower team is to step out of the boot-pack and pass without slowing them in any way. This may take considerable energy if the snow outside the bootpack is soft or deep. The passing team should not complain about having to pass, as they didn’t get up as early as the slower team. If you are leading a slow team and you notice that you’re slowing other teams, it’s polite to step out of the boot-pack and allow others to pass. If your team needs to take a break, they should do so outside the boot-pack, allowing others to pass. There’s no reason to force another team off the path and into deep snow while you break. If your team is slow and takes a lot of standing mini-breaks (stopping for a few seconds or even a minute or so), then you should step out of the boot-pack and allow faster teams to pass on the path without protest.

Who has the right to the steps that have been kicked in the slope? Often in spring soft snow conditions, a team will kick a nice line of steps up the slope. Clearly, it’s easier for teams following later in the day to use pre-existing steps than to create their own. However, the mountaineers who follow later in the day don’t own the steps. If the people who kicked the steps elect to use them for their descent – effectively destroying them with their downslope plunge steps – they have every right to do that. In very soft conditions, this is often the

only way to move down the mountain effectively. If you create a series of steps up the mountain, you certainly have the right to use them on your descent. However, it is far more polite to leave the steps for others. The only reason not to leave the steps is if the snow is extremely soft. In such conditions it’s safer and more effective to descend the uphill steps.

What if I’m camping in the coolest spot in the world and another team arrives and wants to share my cool spot? Sometimes on busy weekends the only dry sites left late in the day are very close to other teams. No one owns the mountain and you don’t own your campsite. Just think how it would feel if you hiked in and there was no place to camp. The most polite thing to do is to share the space. If you arrive late in the day and can’t find an open site, be polite and ask if it’s OK to camp in close quarters to another team. Or better yet, spend more time scouting the area. There are a lot of barely hidden pre-impacted dry sites on all aspects of Mount Baker.

How loud can I be when I get up at 2 a.m.? This one should be common sense; if there are people sleeping anywhere around you, you should be quiet.

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ers. Last year somebody left a metal box with human remains in it on the summit. As of the end of the 2015 season, they were still there. However, it’s unlikely that they will remain. Eventually somebody will chuck them off the side of the mountain or carry them out. The deceased person and their relatives probably don’t want that. Nothing – not litter, not coffee grounds, not random wands, not metal boxes full of ashes – should be left on the mountain at the end of your trip. The best way to keep the wilderness wild is to pack out everything you packed in.

What should I do with my human waste? Should I leave it on the summit for all to see with a nice pile of toilet paper, or should I do something else with it? You should do something else with it. The current rule of thumb on the mountain is to Leave No Trace and pack out all human waste. Both the Heliotrope Ridge and the Schriebers Meadows trailheads have plastic bag dispensers stocked with “blue bags” for this purpose. You may also use a higher end commercial waste bag, like a WAG Bag, a Biffy Bag or a Rest Stop. These are a little bit more secure and have special powder in them to counter the smell. When it comes to glacier travel etiquette on Mount Baker, the best advice is to be friendly and think about how not only your team experiences the mountain, but also about how other teams experience it. If you can leave the mountain in better shape then you found it and if you can treat people the way you’d like to be treated, everyone will have a good time and our mountain will be better for it. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

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Skiing the

Selkirks

Story By Ian Ferguson Photos by Oliver Lazenby

hen you work a full time job, big ski trips are a gamble. You have to get the time off in advance, and you’re never sure what the conditions will be. Sometimes your only choice is to send it and hope for the best. I had wanted to ski the Bonnington Traverse ever since we published Cory Tarilton’s article in the Mount Baker Experience Spring 2014 issue. I got some friends onboard, we finagled time off with our respective workplaces and reserved the huts about a month in advance for the middle of January. We met up in Nelson, British Columbia, a true mountain town with more outdoor gear shops per capita than any other town I’ve seen. Oliver Lazenby and I drove up from Bellingham. Paul Nicholson drove from Salt Lake City, and he picked up Dylan Stanford, who is from Portland, Oregon, along the way in Idaho. Dylan was the lone splitboarder of the group. Right away, it was clear that our chosen time slot was not ideal. It was raining at high elevations, and the avalanche report was dire. The safest route would put us in avalanche terrain, to say nothing of the steeper lines that would tempt us along the way. We considered bailing on the whole venture and spending a weekend at Whitewater Ski Resort. Ultimately, we decided that getting to the first hut, the Grassy Hut, would be safe and easy. Once we were there, we could make decisions for each day based on our snowpack observations. We all had taken Avy I, and Paul was on ski patrol for the Canyons Resort in Utah. We spent a lot of time talking about conditions, identifying the potential heuristic traps that might put us in harm’s way and vowing to be conservative with our terrain selection. It was raining the next morning. We dropped my car off at Porto Rico road, drove Paul’s truck around to Bombi Summit and set out to ski

through the Bonnington Range – a sub-range of the Selkirks – with everything we would need for four days on our backs. With the help of GPS, Google Maps and a previous party’s skin track, we found Grassy Hut without too much trouble. It was starting to get dark as we built a fire in the wood stove and melted snow for water. The Bonnington huts are run by the Kootenay Mountaineering Club (KMC). They are stocked with wood stoves, wood, cooking utensils, a two-burner Coleman stove and a Coleman lamp. The Grassy Hut has four bunks that are wide enough for two people in

each bunk. Before we left Nelson, I had emailed a member of the KMC for route beta. Graham graciously replied with detailed route descriptions. He told us getting to the second hut, the Steed Hut, would put us on 40-degree, wide-open terrain which, given the avy forecast, sounded sketchy. He also told us he had reserved the Grassy Hut with some friends the

night after our reservation. So when we went to bed on our first night in the Grassy Hut, we knew we had two options the next morning: continue on to Steed Hut or hope Graham and his friends were willing to share the Grassy Hut. The next morning broke relatively clear, which was encouraging, but as we made our way to the top of Grassy Mountain a snowstorm settled in and intensified. We continued toward Steed Hut in whiteout conditions, but eventually decided it wasn’t safe to keep going. The avalanche slopes Graham had warned us about are on the last stretch of the route from Grassy to Steed. Navigating with no trails in a whiteout, it would take us all day to get there, so we would find ourselves on top of an avalanche-prone slope loaded with new snow, with poor visibility, darkness descending and a strong desire to get to the hut below. We decided to avoid that situation, instead finding a long run in the trees off the summit of Grassy Mountain, lapping it a few times and heading back to the Grassy Hut with offerings of whiskey and chocolate for our unknown hosts. Graham, Joanne and Matthew ended up being really nice, and showed us true Canadian hospitality. They invited us in and we spent the night eating, drinking, looking at maps and playing Bananagrams. We got up early the next morning, determined to get to Steed Hut. The clouds almost broke for a few minutes at sunrise, but other than that we were socked in for the whole day. The running joke was that according to the forecast, the sun would come out in an hour. An hour from when? An hour from right now. We skied the tree run from the summit of Grassy on our way, and at the bottom discovered one of the bindings on Dylan’s ancient splitboard was jammed. Thinking it was frozen, Oliver offered to pee on it, and when that didn’t work, I peed on it too. That melted the snow and ice enough to see that an insert was jammed against one of the pucks. We figured it out, laughing to renditions of Dave Chappelle’s R. Kelly impersonation. By the time we started approaching the final ridge to Steed Hut, daylight was starting to fade. We crossed quickly under a steep avalanche slope, probably the sketchiest part of the

Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

whole trip. After a quick climb to the ridge, we received good news and bad news. The good news was that the ski down to Steed Hut was treed, mellow and safe. The bad news was that one half of Dylan’s splitboard had broken right in front of the toe, and was hanging by the laminate. Once in snowboard mode, the other half kept the board rigid enough to ride on, but in tour mode it would be useless without some serious MacGyvering. The Steed Hut is in the middle of the range, miles from the nearest road. It was Sunday, and Oliver and I needed to be back in Bellingham for work on Tuesday. We already knew Monday would be long, and this broken splitboard would make it much worse, but we decided not to think about it. We got to Steed Hut and enjoyed ourselves. Steed Hut is an A-frame with a loft and a giant table. It was a dry, cozy place to spend the night. We drank the last of the good whiskey, and Dylan shared a beer he had hidden deep in his pack. It was a Payette Brewing Outlaw IPA, and it hit the spot. It was Paul and Dylan’s turn to cook, and they made a massive amount of gourmet mac and cheese. Our final day of the trip broke clear and sunny. Although we had debated dropping into the Erie Creek drainage and climbing the face of Empire Peak to get out to Porto Rico Road, with Dylan’s board broken we decided to minimize our elevation gain. We decided to ski out over the shoulder of Twin Peaks to Munson Road where a gradual climb and long, nearly flat descent would bring us to the truck at Bombi Summit, where we started. Enticingly, we had seen a north-facing zone on the south ridge of Siwash Mountain with long, almost spine-like lines that was just a short detour from the easiest route. We used an avalanche probe and multiple ski straps to splint Dylan’s ski. It was still too flexible, and it made transitions take a

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into before arcing down with style. The trip out from there involved a small ridge climb, hippy party turns into a densely treed valley, a brief moment of darkness for Dylan as he battled a log crossing in snowboard boots, and a 13-kilometer skin/ski out to the truck on a logging road. We got to Paul’s truck after dark, only to find that it had been broken into. The thieves stole an auxiliary cord, but ignored all the gear in the bed of the truck. In all, we got about nine good runs in four days of touring. We didn’t complete the traverse, and Paul’s truck got broken into. But in a week where there were multiple avalanche deaths across North America, we made good decisions, and those turns were by far the best of the season for me. We all want to go back to the Bonnington Range, but next time we would give ourselves more time, get to a hut and spend multiple days there exploring the terrain. There are a lot of possibilities, and so much of the area we didn’t get to see.

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lot longer, but it worked. We headed up to Siwash Ridge as the sun rose in the sky. The avalanche danger had lessened over the weekend. We saw no evidence of slides and our pits indicated stability. Still, we were cautious getting up to the ridge. Paul found the best skin track up a slight bulge to a treed saddle. From the saddle, we had options. Oliver and Dylan chose to ski a long, powder-filled run from the ridge saddle. Paul and I opted to follow the ridge to a steeper section. Oliver and Dylan got to a safe spot below us and used walkie talkies to direct us to nice lines. As Paul and I were ripping skins to drop, a helicopter buzzed us and landed just down the ridge, dropping off clients to ski the slope directly behind us. I went first, making a long ski cut to get to a sparsely treed ridgeline. I dropped in between the trees to a steeper open slope, and in just a few long turns I was speeding across the flat section to the trees where Oliver and Dylan were watching. On the radios, we directed Paul to a mini spine line that he aired

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Rome Grocery

A place infused with “an underlying really good feeling” Story and photos By Oliver Lazenby

egan and Noah Westgate are ready for you to know they own Rome Grocery. That wasn’t the case in 2013, the year they bought the little store between Bellingham and Deming on the Mt. Baker Highway. “The first six to 12 months we owned it we didn’t really tell anyone,” Megan said. “It was embarrassing because it was in such a bad state.” The store was crowded with too many shelves and coolers. A contest to see who could find the oldest item turned up something that expired in 1993. The floor was covered in “probably about as much duct tape as carpet,” Noah said. Even despite the store’s need for polish, it was far from the Westgate’s vision for it. When Megan and Noah took over on the first day of 2013, Rome Grocery was a typical roadside convenience store. Customers saw a rack of cigarettes as soon as they walked in and cases of Bud Light outnumbered six-packs of local beer. Three years later, the cigarettes and Bud Light remain but they’re joined on the shelves by such local goods as hard cider and wine from nearby Everson, hazelnuts from Outer County Farm in Bellingham, organic chicken feed from Bellingham-based Scratch and Peck Feeds and Rome Grocery-brand honey produced in Skagit County. They also started carrying produce, but removed it last summer in a belt-tightening response to the Washington State Department of Transportation closing their section of highway for repairs. But produce is coming back to stay, Noah said. Megan and Noah see a need for those items in the area. The Westgates live 3 miles from the store. For them and their neighbors, the drive to Bellingham takes 25 minutes one way.

Food access The store’s new owners are both driven by a desire to make quality food easier for people to get. Noah, who grew up in Everson, started an organic farm as a student at Pomona College in Claremont, California. The couple lives with their two-year-old son on 5 acres, where they grow vegetables and raise chickens, ducks and a goat. Noah recently finished planting an orchard with 50 fruit and nut trees. Megan is the executive director for the Non-GMO Project, a Bellingham-based nonprofit that administers North America’s only third-party labeling system for foods that

cery’s customers, but locals are the majority, Noah said. “A lot of the current clientele live near here, grew up near here and have a place in their hearts for this store,” Noah said. Kim Carson shops at the store all the time. His grandparents built the store and owned it in the 1920s, and his uncle owned it in the ’60s. His mother, Alice Carson, was born in the store in 1927. Kim’s grandfather Constant hauled the store’s floor with a team of workhorses to its current location from Goshen, a pioneer town 5 miles north of Rome Grocery, according to Kim’s cousin Julie Kutschbach. Kim said he takes pride in the store because of those family connections and he’s happy to see what Noah and Megan have done with it. “[Noah’s] such a super nice guy. He always has a smile on his face,” Kim said. “All the help he hired – they’re just exceptional people.” The history and community vibe is something Megan and Noah are trying to capture in their changes to the store. “The underlying, really good feeling that I feel this building and this space is infused with – that is a lot of our inspiration,” Megan said. “We want to just let that shine.” don’t contain genetically modified organisms. She also serves on the board for Bellingham’s Community Food Co-op. While the Non-GMO Project takes an international tack toward helping customers get healthy food, Rome Grocery carries out the mission on a local level. “It’s the macro and the micro,” Noah said. “It’s the international approach and the how-can-we-feed-our-direct-neighbors approach.” As director of the Non-GMO Project, Megan may look out of place sitting at a table in the Rome Grocery, next to shelves of Sour Patch Kids and Cheetos. The couple’s goal, however, is to add healthy products, not remove unhealthy ones. It’s a place where customers grab chewing tobacco, cigarettes and energy drinks, but also coconut water and kombucha, Megan said. Similarly, in her work with Non-GMO Project Megan doesn’t seek to ban or prohibit access to GMO products, just to inform shoppers of the difference.

A community hub Tourists, skiers and hikers are a big part of Rome Gro-

More changes coming The duct tape and carpet floor is long gone – Noah replaced it with hand-milled old-growth deadfall lumber – and the store has undergone many other changes. But the current store hasn’t yet lived up to Megan and Noah’s vision for it, they said. Noah’s next project is getting a full kitchen, which he hopes to accomplish by spring. He just hired a chef. Noah is more involved with the store on a day-to-day level than Megan. Megan is busy – The Non-GMO Project exploded in the last 10 years. In 2006, she was the sole employee. Now, there are 20 employees in Bellingham and the nonprofit contracts five outside organizations across the country to evaluate products. Media giants also regularly interview her. In the last year Newsweek, NPR and Fox Business have quoted her in articles about GMOs. Despite all that, Megan likes to be involved with the store when she can. “It’s just the recognition that there are different levels to enact change on,” she said. “I am honestly a total homebody and I treasure my home here in Whatcom County.”

Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Mattias Evangelista skiing in the Mount Baker backcountry. Grant Gunderson photo.

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

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Gallery

Rob Kunch rails a turn on Galbraith Mountain. Brad Andrew photo. Brad Andrew photo. Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

MountBakerExperience.com

Lea Hartl skies a chute after sea kayaking to the base. Lofoten Islands, Norway. Jason Hummel photo. Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Bob Jones riding on Mount Cheam near Chilliwack B.C., above smoke from the Elaho Fire. Reuben Krabbe photo.

Rowan Yerxa, left, and Lee Laney sailing at sunset on Bellingham Bay. Brandon Sawaya photo.

Frankie Devlin splitboarding early in the season near Washington Pass. Justin Kious photo.

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

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Horseback skiing in the Pasayten Wilderness, Washington. Jason Hummel photo.

Spring skiing at Washington Pass. Radka Chapin photo.

Kevin Hall riding in the Chuckanuts. Justin Kious photo. Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

The

Volcano

Tour Splitboarding Cascade volcanoes

the

Story By Ian Ferguson Photos by Freya Fennwood

t the Dutchman Flat Sno-Park in Oregon last April, Maria Debari, Kaitlyn Farrington and Freya Fenwood struck up a conversation with a lone skier who had just come down from Broken Top Mountain. He was a local guide, and they were three splitboarders intent on climbing Broken Top that day and the Three Sisters the next. “You guys are trying to do the Three Sisters marathon? Not to be a jerk, but you totally don’t have that,” the guide informed them. The man had reason to be skeptical. The Three Sisters traverse in one day is a massive challenge for anyone, involving 20 miles and 10,000 feet of elevation gain spread over three peaks. Debari and her crew didn’t look like the type of dialed-in, hyper-motivated alpinists who normally attempt such a challenge. For one, they appeared a little disheveled from weeks spent living out of a truck. They were on splitboards, which have a reputation for being inefficient on long traverses. And they were women, all less than 5'5" in height. This may have been the mental assessment the guide made when he passed his judgment. Or perhaps he was just concerned about snow conditions. Regardless, the man received a polite voicemail from Debari the next evening. “I wanted to let you know,” she said, “we just completed the Three Sisters marathon. Have a nice day!” The Three Sisters Traverse was a long day, but it was a small part of a much larger objective: to climb and snowboard the 25 highest volcanoes of the Cascade range, from Lassen Peak in California to Mt. Garibaldi in B.C. Debari came up with the idea during the low-snow winter of 2015, and began assembling a team in February. She called it the Almost Famous Volcano Tour. Kaitlyn Farrington, who won the snowboarding halfpipe gold medal in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, was Debari’s partner throughout the tour. Professional ski/snowboard photographer Freya Fennwood joined for all but a few volcanoes. Krissy Fagan, a snowboard mountaineer/nurse-intraining, joined for the second half of the trip. Other friends and family joined for a volcano here and there, includ-

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

ing Debari’s brother Lucas who came along for the Three Sisters traverse. Camping out of Debari’s Toyota pickup, the team made its way up the Cascade volcanic arc in warm spring sunshine until they hit Washington and the weather turned wet. They went through stretches of up to six days of climbing a volcano per day. Showers and other luxuries took a backseat to the mission. “Kaitlyn was really proud of how few showers she took. I think she took about two showers the whole trip,” Debari said. “I wanted to go the whole time without showering, but then we ran into weather in Washington and I decided it would just be awkward if I wasn’t showering while I was staying at Maria’s house,” Farrington explained. The volcanoes are the highest mountains in the Cascade Range. On most summits, the snowboarders could see the next day’s objective looming white in a sea of green on the horizon. After riding down and getting back to the truck, usually after miles of skinning and bushwhacking, they would drive the maze of back roads to the next trailhead, set up camp and do it all over again the next day. None of the women had ever snowboarded or climbed a mountain together. But nothing bonds people together like huge days in the mountains and sharing a tent for six weeks, and each of the team members reported that it was the trip of a lifetime. For Farrington, the trip represented a turning point in her life.

Good timing Kaitlyn Farrington started skiing when she was three, and followed her older sister into the world of snowboarding. She was talented and determined, and found a lot of success in the competition circuit. She went to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Games, and ended up winning the gold medal in halfpipe. “My goal was just to have fun and ride the best I could, and it paid off,” Farrington said. “Winning the gold was surreal. It’s something I had dreamed about since I was a little kid.”

Freakishly Fast While Farrington embraced the snowboarding contest circuit from an early age, for Debari, the thrill of competition was always secondary to being able to ride powder with her friends. In 2013, Debari was invited to join the women’s Freeride World Tour. She decided to go for it, and ended up winning the tour in Switzerland. She could have turned pro, but the way she saw it, ceding control over her snowboarding destiny to a few corporations would only dilute her greatest passion in life. “I never want to have to fly down to southern California to hit this big jump or this stupid rail because somebody told me I needed to,” she said. Although Debari occasionally receives equipment and trip support from a few companies (The North Face and Gnu supported the Almost Famous Volcano Tour), she doesn’t consider herself a professional snowboarder. She makes money fishing for salmon every summer in southeast Alaska. She works aboard the Loui M, a top-of-the-line seiner out of Bellingham. “I am extremely lucky to have my job,” she said. The first time I met Debari was on the Coleman Glacier on the north side of Mt. Baker. My friends and I had reached our high point for the day when we saw a speck on the horizon below. In no time she was with us, having strolled up the glacier like it was a golf course. All smiles, she wasn’t the least bit winded. “Maria is freakishly fast in the mountains,” Fagan said. Photo\

Almost Famous

A few months later, while hitting a jump in Austria, Farrington suffered what seemed like a minor crash until she realized she couldn’t move from the neck down. The paralysis was temporary, but doctors later diagnosed her with congenital cervical spinal stenosis, and told her even a minor neck injury could paralyze her for life. Multiple doctors forbade her from snowboarding, until finally a doctor agreed to let her snowboard as long as she didn’t hit any jumps. Farrington had spent her whole life perfecting the art of getting air on a snowboard, and now doctors were telling her never to do it again. “All I had known was contests, halfpipes and catching air,” Farrington said. “That year was a tough transition of not really knowing where to go next.” Debari was looking for partners for the Almost Famous Volcano Tour, and her brother Lucas recommended Farrington, so she called her up. Maria’s call to join the Almost Famous Volcano Tour couldn’t have come at a better time. It offered Farrington a new challenge and a new realm of snowboarding that didn’t require jumping. Farrington had never climbed a mountain on a splitboard, let alone an entire range of volcanoes. But talking to Farrington and the people who know her, you get the sense she doesn’t back down from any challenge as long as there is fun to be had. She signed on right away. “I remember getting the gear list email from Maria, and she’s like, ‘Remember to get ski crampons,’ and I’m like, ‘Where the hell do I get those? I’ve never even heard of ski crampons,’” Farrington said. Farrington had to learn about backcountry snowboarding on the fly, but she had a great role model in Debari.

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Debari’s speed would set the pace for the entire trip. Farrington had a steep learning curve to get to Debari’s level, but being an Olympic athlete and a competitive person, she was up to the task.

The real deal The trip started on Lassen, which was an easy tour. Mount Shasta was next. At 14,180 feet, it was a major hurdle. Farrington was unfamiliar with the equipment, and wore her heavy backpack slung low like a middle school kid. Debari and Fennwood helped her tighten her straps, but all the gear was unfamiliar to her and it was a long day. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the real deal, we’re hiking all of these volcanoes,’” Farrington said. “It was almost a breaking point for me.” After Shasta, Farrington improved rapidly. “By a couple volcanoes into the tour, she was so strong,” Debari said. “She has a good head in the mountains. Exposure doesn’t bother her – she can put on crampons and dance across the ice. She absolutely killed it, beyond my expectations.” Debari, Farrington and Fennwood worked their way up through the volcanoes of Oregon. After the Three Sisters Traverse, Fagan joined the team and they tackled Jefferson (10,495 feet), Hood (11,250 feet) and Adams (12,280 feet) one after the other in three days. Then they took a well-deserved rest day in Hood River, Oregon, just in time to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. “We ended up taking over this bar and singing karaoke,” Fagan said. “Suddenly this guy is playing guitar, somebody else is playing drums, and the night ended with Kaitlyn wearing a sombrero and sleeping in a driveway.” When the weather cleared a couple of days later, the team headed to Mt. St. Helens. After St. Helens, the weather turned stormy. They wanted to climb Rainier next, but couldn’t get the weather window. The group headed to Debari’s house in Bellingham to wait out the storms. A few days went by, and Debari grew restless. The deadline was May 25, when her summer fishing job began. With time running out and no weather window in sight, she decided the team should try and knock off the easy summits in the rain. They drove into Canada to climb Mt. Garibaldi with an ugly forecast looming. “We went into the tent on Garibaldi around 6:30 p.m. soaking wet. The next morning it was still raining but we kept pushing ourselves to get to a high point. Pretty soon we got above the clouds, and there was a moment where we were like, OK, we can do this,” Debari said. After Garibaldi the team knocked off Goat Rocks in a drizzle, then faced their biggest challenge on Glacier Peak. They underestimated the climb’s remoteness and got a late start to the day. After an 8-mile hike and a long climb up a steep snowfield, the group was forced to bivy far from the summit. “We basically took all our gear for a backpacking trip just to sleep on the snow, turn around and backpack it out the next day,” Debari said. “It really sucked.” Debari, Farrington and Fagan returned to Glacier Peak a few days later, racing to beat bad weather. They reached the summit on the second attempt, and on the descent they were treated to some of the best views of the trip. With only enough time to do one more volcano, the team

opted to climb Maria’s home mountain, Mt. Baker, instead of Rainier. “It was a disappointment to miss Rainier, because it’s the biggest one,” Debari said. “We have plans to climb it this spring. We’re excited to get back together.” In 45 days, the team of four women splitboarders completed 24 of the 25 volcanoes they set out to climb. All tolled, the group traveled 294 miles on skis/snowboards and climbed 103,200 vertical feet.

Mt. Garibaldi (8,786')

Mt. Baker (10,781') Glacier Peak (10,541')

Double underdogs The Mt. Baker climb was celebratory. Several friends joined in, and champagne and fireworks may or may not have been involved. The day was spent celebrating not only the successful trip, but also the memory of Liz Daley, a pioneer in women’s splitboarding who lived in Tacoma and died in 2014 in an avalanche in Argentina. “I had bumped into Liz in the mountains a few times. She did a lot of things that were so amazing, especially for females and splitboarders,” Fagan said. In some ways, the trip showed the world what women on splitboards can do. The name of the tour hints at that, Debari said. “I thought it was a fitting name because girls, snowboarders and especially splitboarders – you’re kind of the double underdog. I have certainly struggled to get people to take me seriously, and I don’t blame them, it’s fine. But I just thought it was kind of a funny name. Kaitlyn is certainly famous, but no one else was. Plus I really love that movie.” Fennwood, who often tours with accomplished athletes, said it was an endurance challenge that pushed her body to the limits. “Following Maria and Kaitlyn, all my usual excuses of being short, being a girl and being a splitboarder were no longer relevant. Those girls are just as short as me, and they crush,” Fennwood said. Although painful at times, the trip was always fun. Farrington helped keep it that way with her quirky sense of humor. “Kaitlyn kept having to make these little videos for her People magazine article. So she would be out there and be like, ‘Alright, here I am, first time putting on crampons,’ and they’re on the wrong feet, and she’s like ‘Yup, I guess they’re on the wrong feet.’ She would make up songs as we climbed, and she named her splitboard Tina and Turner. Everything was positive, nothing was serious,” Debari said. Aside from the jokes they made along the way, completing hard challenges brought a different kind of fun to the trip. Crater “A few times people were telling us it wasn’t possible for various reasons, and it’s interesting to hear people question what you can do,” Fennwood said. “It feels like, what, we’re small? We’re female? We’re on snowboards? So you think we aren’t capable of climbing these peaks? And it’s definitely fun to prove them wrong.”

Goat Rocks (8,182') Mt. Adams (12,280') Mt. St. Helens (8,366')

Mt. Hood (11,250')

Mt. Jefferson (10,495') Three Fingered Jack (7,844') Mt. Washington (7,795') Three Sisters (10,358') Broken Top (9,177') Mt. Bachelor (9,0681') Paulina Peak (7,985') Diamond Peak (8,743') Mt. Thielsen (9,183') Mt. Bailey (8,376') Lake/Garfield Peak (8,060') Pelican Butte (14,179') Mt. McLoughlin (9,495')

Mt. Shasta (14,179')

Lassen Peak (10,463') Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

One Fitbit The

By Steve Guntli

n the 1970s, Stephen King published a book (under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman) called “The Long Walk.” The story involves a dystopian future contest where hundreds of young men compete in an endurance trial to see who can walk the farthest. If characters go too fast, too slow or stop moving for more than a few seconds, they are summarily executed. The walk goes on for weeks until finally, bloody, exhausted and crazed, the first of the remaining walkers crosses the finish line and is granted wealth and celebrity. It’s a grueling story. I read it a few years ago and I find myself thinking of it a lot lately, not because I’m exploring the themes of dictatorship and control, but because I’m curious how many steps those guys would get on their Fitbits, if they had them. And it hasn’t stopped with the oeuvre of King/Bachman: I’ve started wondering how many steps Frodo racked up on his quest to destroy the one ring, or how the device would interpret DiCaprio’s hobbling through the wilderness in “The Revenant.” The Fitbit has infected my brain, intruding on the pop culture tidbits I usually care about and making an athlete out of me despite my best efforts to resist. For the uninitiated, Fitbits are those little rubber wristbands you’ve likely seen people wearing in the last few years. It’s essentially a glorified pedometer, recording the number of steps you take, the calories burned, the flights of stairs climbed and your total mileage in a 24-hour period. The goal for most people sporting Fitbits is to hit 10,000 steps a day, which for me is roughly 4 miles of walking or running every day. When you achieve your goal, the wristband buzzes happily and the LED display congratulates you on a job well done. It’s not entirely dissimilar to the experiments Pavlov did on his dog. My wife first started using her Fitbit about a year and a half ago, part of a company-wide initiative at her work. Employees who racked up the most steps each week would get small fringe incentives, like closer parking spaces or free coffee or a few extra bucks on the paycheck. The competition ended after about a month, but Nicole continues to plug on, hitting her 10,000-step goal more often than not. When she first got her Fitbit, I was a skeptic of the most obnoxious shade. I’d make fun of her for sporting a pedometer at all hours of the day, or for walking in circles around our apartment when she was 300 steps short of her goal. Once, Nicole’s Fitbit stopped working, and she grew irritable and nervous until

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the replacement arrived. Now, I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen a lot of movies, and this was a melodramatic textbook example of addiction. Addiction is a serious business, but I still felt justified in making fun of her, because she showed little indication that she was about to rub the rubber wristband on her gums. But by the time my birthday rolled around in late December, I was ready to change my tune. I’ve officially reached the age where my metabolism stops doing the heavy lifting. I’ve always straddled the line between fat and thin, but lately I’ve firmly taken up residence on one side of that line, and it isn’t the side I want to be on. I figured having a little digital motivation to get active wouldn’t kill me. I suggested this to Nicole in an offhand way while we were sitting in a restaurant; within seconds, she had ordered my tracker on her phone, with a speed that suggested she’d had the page queued up for months and was just waiting for me to say the word. Now that I’ve been using the device for a few weeks, I almost regret teasing Nicole so relentlessly for her fixation (almost). I’m officially a convert, on my way to being an addict. I get just as twitchy if I forget to wear the little bracelet. I feel unreasonably guilty every time I fail to meet my step goal. And when my own device started to show signs of malfunction, my brain responded in kind by basically shutting down until my replacement came in. The best and worst features of the Fitbit are the challenges. Included with the Fitbit’s companion app are a series of challenges you can issue to friends who also have the device. They range from small items like Daily Goal (basically just ensuring everyone hits their 10,000 steps), to Workweek Hustle, in which competitors try to rack up the most steps over a five-day period. These challenges have turned me into a monster. I’ve stopped viewing my friends and family as fellow human beings, but as names

on a bar graph that are constantly trying to vex me. I’m not a particularly competitive person in my day-to-day life, but something about these challenges brought out the worst in me. During one Workweek Hustle challenge, I began to view my 12-year-old niece, who would be a serious contender in any competition for sweetest human being alive, as my personal white whale. The Fitbit app requires you to check in and sync up your device to monitor your progress, and my niece had the habit of staying off the app for two or three days at a time. So I would plug away, getting my steps in and making a real play for first place, when she would sync up her device late in the game and overtake me by a few thousand steps. So I did what any normal person would do: I would scream and curse at the data on my phone, then lace up my running shoes and do a few laps around the block at 1 a.m. Then I would press the little “taunt” button on my app and let a digital frowny face convey my superiority over a child I love. Maybe I was railing against her youth and athleticism, reasserting to the world that I am still young and vital and one day I will be thin, and I am the master of time, tide and destiny. Maybe I was just being a jerk. While the Fitbit has been encouraging more activity, I’m not convinced that this is healthy behavior. I’m trying to use the device more moderately now. I hit my step count more often than not but I’m not participating in challenges every day. A lot of that may have to do with the fact that my friends and family are no longer accepting my invitations to compete, but who’s to say. Sometimes, I’ll glance at that little strap on my wrist and think of just how satisfying it would be if it would shake and light up and tell me I did a good job, and I start to salivate ever so slightly. My preciousssss …

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Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Prime Ice

What you should know about ice climbing Story and photos By Mallorie Estenson

’mon, Mal. You got this. You can do this. I’ve been an athlete my entire life: a competitive gymnast, a state champion springboard diver, a distance runner and a climber. Never before have I been so close to giving up. I raised my hand and slammed my pick into the ice with a small, desperate battle cry. I willed my legs to lift and kick into the ice. My boots shifted beneath my transitioning weight, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me. It took all the willpower I could muster, but I made it through. I climbed that pitch and proved to myself that my mind is more powerful than any muscle group in my body. Ice climbing, from what I’ve gathered thus far, is a very basic sequence of movements. Maybe that’s what allows you to get so deep into your mind. Maybe that’s why I love it so much. Mention ice climbing to a non-climber and they practically lose their mind.

“Isn’t that dangerous? Aren’t you afraid the ice is going to break?” Yeah, it can be dangerous. And yes, the ice might break; in fact, it might shear off in dinner plate-size chunks that fly at your face. There’s a good chance you’ll leave the ice bruised and scraped. But it’s entirely possible and accessible if you know how to set up a top rope anchor and exercise some common sense. This is in no way a substitute for a guide or proper ice climbing training. Rather, it’s a few suggestions based on what I’ve learned to help you seek out ice climbing opportunities for yourself. It bears repeating: this is not a substitute for a guide to ice climbing. This is merely inspiration for the would-be ice climber.

Basics The competent rock climber – someone who understands climbing safety, rope systems, decision making in the back-

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country, etc. – already knows much of what goes into ice climbing. However, ice is not rock. While ice appears physically solid, it exists in a dynamic state of constant change. Some days the ice is safe and some days the ice is weak. Therefore, it is always best to go with someone who is well versed in ice climbing and familiar with the area and present conditions. To determine whether or not the conditions will allow for safe climbing, talk with other climbers who have been out recently. Talk to people whose credentials inspire confidence. If you’re not sure about conditions, don’t risk it. You do not need to be the Incredible Hulk to climb ice. Ice climbing is much less about upper body strength than it is about executing proper technique. Watching YouTube videos, reading guidebooks and articles or even better, signing up for a class with a local guiding service, can help you learn the basics of technique.

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Gear This is the fun part. First, you’re going to need a set of ice tools – they are different from a singular ice axe, which is longer and used for mountaineering. Look for lighter, newer models, preferably with a curved shaft for an efficient swing. The picks are the mechanisms for pulling your body up the icy curtains . There’s something incredibly gratifying about the dull thud a pick makes when it sinks deep into solid ice – just wait, you’ll see. Next, get yourself a pair of crampons for kicking into the ice. Vertical front-point crampons will make for a more aggressive option, but horizontal front points will get the job done too. The front point is the part of the crampon that extends out from beneath your toes. If you’re renting gear, the guys or gals at the gear shop will be able to explain the difference to you. If there’s any wisdom I can impart on you, it’s this: steer away from strap-on crampons. Step-in or hybrid versions are far more secure, although they require specific boots. If the description “strap-on” isn’t enough to scare you off, imagine your boots slipping around in your crampons as you dangle from your ice tools and your arms

become pumped out. I don’t care how good you are at campusing (climbing without using your feet) – that’s not how it’s supposed to work. It is absolutely vital to wear a good helmet that will protect you from the ice that will inevitably fall as a result of people climbing above you. Icefall varies in size from ice cube to deadly, so helmets are essential. A standard climbing harness will work for ice climbing. Ice-specific harnesses are out there, but those won’t be necessary for top roping. You’ll begin to consider them once you start thinking about leading on ice but for beginners, leading is out of the question and will be for a while. Progression on ice should be a slow process. As for rope, any rope safe for climbing will do. Nope, it doesn’t need to be dry treated; while that would be convenient and optimal, any rope is going to become wet with use. Take two 70-meter ropes to ensure belayers can safely distance themselves from ice sheared off by the climber. For protection, the same equipment you would use to set up a safe, equalized and redundant anchor for top-rope rock climbing

applies on ice, with the additional possibility of v-thread anchors. Anchor building is far beyond the scope of this article; take a class with a local guiding service or make sure your partners are expert anchor builders. Don the same attire you would for a day of skiing in cold, wet conditions – the more Gore-Tex the merrier – and pack extra gloves. Bring thick and thin gloves to experiment with. Thinner gloves provide better grip, but cold hands can lead to the screaming barfies, which are just as bad as they sound.

Commit Before beginning an ice climb, take a moment to pause and reflect: am I ready to take on the risk? Have I evaluated the conditions? Are all members of my party adequately prepared? Am I properly equipped with all the knowledge and equipment I’m going to need? My ice crag of choice is Marble Canyon, outside of Lillooet, B.C. According to Google Maps, it should only take about four hours to get there from Vancouver, but allow extra time for pit stops, icy driving conditions and the border crossing if coming from Washington. Once at the trailhead, it takes about five minutes to walk across frozen Pavilion Lake. The ice is great, ranging from WI3–5. The options are plentiful and top rope anchors abound.

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Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

The Magic S Loop Snowboard mountaineering IN CASCADE PASS story and photos By Andy Basabe

It’s

a Friday evening and I’m checking the contents of my backpack, wondering what the mountains will demand of me. It is spring, with snow shifting daily from oatmeal to steel and temperatures from shivering to sweating. I am trying to decide if I will find myself in any situations requiring rope and harness, or if I am just going splitboarding. Crampons and ice axes go in the pack, rope is left behind. Frankie, Kyle and I are planning to ride the north side of Spider Mountain, a steep face with a long approach. Martin Volken and Peter Avolio first skied the line during midwinter, when Cascade River Road is gated miles from Cascade Pass. Bushwhacking up the middle fork of the Cascade River, they earned their descent. This was not their first attempt. As much as I want to ride that mountain in winter, I am unwilling to put myself to that trail-blazing test, and have waited for spring melt when the Forest Service opens the road, at least partway. Later that night, I’m sitting in a crowded bar. Someone I have grown close to is set to leave the following morning for her summer job, and I want to spend time with her before she leaves. It isn’t good style to burden your partners with your excesses from the night before, so Frankie and Kyle agree to join, as if our trip were beginning right now. Tomorrow we will push ourselves to move. Tonight we will celebrate, knowing that we will be depending on each other for the next 48 hours. Soon enough, I have said my farewell, and am in my room looking at the clock, my mind caught in between what transpired during the last hour and what five hours of sleep will

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

bring. Oh, boy. Morning comes. Kyle and I are loading our packs into my truck. Luckily we live in adjacent houses, so our routine is as simple as opening our kitchen windows and calling out to one another. But this morning there are no words, as we are too fuzzy to speak. Mountain bikes dangling over the tailgate, we go to find Frankie.

Later, a pair of skiers finds us napping on the ground at a pullout between Concrete and Marblemount. All of our gear is on the asphalt next to the truck. They ask us what we are planning on doing that day. Good question. Caffeine is what was needed to get us riding our mountain bikes from the El Dorado gate on Cascade River Road

up to the parking lot below Cascade Pass. Splitboards rise above our heads, bobbing along with backpacks through the bumps in the pavement. Groans followed by laughter followed by groans. Strapping in, we finally get moving on snow. Reaching the crest of Cascade Pass, we are embraced by the mountains. Sahale Arm sweeps up into the clouds to the north. Our plan is to skin south over the adjacent ridge, along the trail that begins the famous Ptarmigan Traverse. With the wet snow and steep angle, there is some concern of sliding over the cliffs below. We are committed, and figure anything that breaks should do so below our feet. We move. We cross the ridge to the land of mountains, the center of the North Cascades. Food in hand, we rest. This is Kyle’s first trip into the heart of Washington’s mountains, and he is enchanted. Mount Formidable stands first in the jagged line of peaks populating the skyline south to Glacier Peak. The mountains surrounding us – Johannesurg, Magic and Mixup – are all impressive. Not far ‘til camp. Finally, I take off my backpack. We are settling in across from Formidable, above KoolAid Lake. The sun is beginning to settle, hinting at the colors to come. While digging our sleeping pit, we begin to feel nauseous, reminding us of how this trip started: pints and shot glasses slamming down on the bar. The moon is coming up soon, and my sleeping bag promises a better night’s sleep than my bed the night before. I reflect on snowboarding, the only constant in the last 18 years of my life. Alcohol has always gone with it, whether in the

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Snoqualmie parking lot after snowboard competitions, Glacier during the Banked Slalom, or in truckbeds after trips. I’ve always tended towards excess – in the mountains, in the bar – anywhere I could ignore expectations. I am not particularly radical, but I prefer to be where conformity is irrelevant. The three of us laugh that we are here in this moment, guiding the sun over the hills with our eyes, when 24 hours ago we were leading each other in depravity, in the mockery of productivity that is drinking. Sunday morning arrives frigid with shade. The soft effects of warmth have worn away, and only movement will liven the body. Catching up on the debt of sleep has put us behind schedule. Our stove flickers out, as we did not bring enough fuel for the trip. We eat lukewarm oatmeal, and we have no way to fill our bottles until we hit running water. Midmorning finds us underneath Spider Mountain, in sunshine, warming our extremities. Snowmelt on rocks has filled our bellies and bottles with water. Kyle and Frankie stare up at the cornices on Spider as I snack. Our route to the top is exposed to cornices above and cliffs below. This could be why the first descent required a midwinter trip. Had we arisen in the dark, and relied on cold temperatures protecting us, we may have been able to justify the climb up the mountain. If someone read about us dying on the side of this mountain, climbing underneath a large cornice in the sun in the middle of the afternoon, they would think we were idiots. Which of the decisions we could make right now would not be considered idiotic? That’s how I think. I don’t want to make stupid decisions. We decide against the ascent. This leaves us a day away from the car. Neither Kyle nor I have been in this valley before. Do we have to return the way we came? Frankie knows of another way. “Let’s ride the Magic S Loop,” he says. The route involves climbing up a nearby ramp, Plan B Couloir, to the top of Hurry Up Peak, then down and around Magic Mountain via the S and Yawning glaciers, back to Cascade Pass. Now we have a goal without looming cornices. Plan B indeed. We hustle up the couloir, exchanging boot pack responsibilities in knee-deep corn mush. Hurry Up beckons, and we race to the top. Looking west at the ridge on the other side of the summit, we notice a cornice of similar size and aspect to the one on Spider that we debated climbing under. This cornice is mostly detached, hanging onto the mountain incomprehensibly. We thank ourselves that we are here, right now, and not dead a mile away. It’s time to turn, riding from just beneath the summit along the ridge, to let go of Spider, onto something new. We ride 2,500 feet of steep glacier, open snow leading to debris fields, until the snow becomes too gloppy to continue. We transition to skins, breaking a path downhill before we can continue up. Back in ski mode, we move up around the side of Magic Mountain. Frankie leads us to the top of the Yawning Glacier, our passage down to the base of Cascade Pass. I am tired. Kyle is tired. Frankie is never as tired as we are. This is the good tired; free from the doubt of poor planning – this tired is sweaty, warm and pleasant. Mid-descent, I am sitting on the glacier, waiting for the others to move beyond me to the next stopping point. To my left is a little snow spider, frozen, waiting for me to remove my shadow from its back. This spider and I are compadres. Small, insignificant creatures traveling in a hostile environment, warmed by sun and cooled at night. This crossing of paths cheers me as I watch Kyle ride past me, tracing this little spider’s mountain, reminding me that no matter the objective, being in the mountains is lucky enough.

The Magic S Loop Driving to Cascade Pass: Take Highway 20 to Marblemount. Drive down Cascade River Road until the road ends or is gated. The pass trailhead is 23 miles from Highway 20 in Marblemount. Permits required for overnight camping. Getting to the tour: Starting in Cascade Pass, go over Cache Col to Kool-Aid Lake, then over Art’s Knoll to the bottom of Spider Mountain. Climb the Plan B Couloir to the top of Hurry-Up Peak, ride down the S Glacier, ascend the side of Magic Mountain to Alliteration Col, and descend the Yawning Glacier. Finally, ascend Cascade Pass and ride down to the car. 1–3 days.

Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Events - find more events and submit your own at mountbakerexperience.com February

THE WEST VAN RUN: March 5-6, West

Vancouver, B.C. The annual 5K and 10K run and walk not only promotes running on the North Shore but also supports some amazing local organizations. More info: Westvanrun.com

Mt. Baker Splitfest: March 11-13, Mt. Baker. Free splitboard demos, clinics and meet-ride tours. Hosted at Chair 9, Glacier. More info: splitfest.com Penn Cove Mussel Fest: March 12-13, Coupeville. Celebrate these blue beauties with contests and family festivities. More info: penncovemusselfestival.com Vancouver Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show: March 12-13, Vancouver, B.C. The largest showcase of outdoor gear and adventure travel experiences in B.C. More info: outdooradventureshow.ca

NAVIGATION BASICS WITH REI: March 14, Bellingham. Learn basic navigation skills using a map and compass. More info: rei.com/bellingham

Recreation northwest EXPO:

Legendary Banked Slalom:

February 18-21, Mt. Baker Ski Area. Celebrate 30 years of the legendary snowboard race through Mt. Baker’s natural halfpipe. That fourth turn is a doozie - stay low and strong! The LBS was canceled last year due to low snow, but with El Niño helping out, the race is on. More info: lbs.mtbaker.us

Lookout Mountain Preserve Hike:

February 21, Bellingham. Join members of the Mount Baker Club on a moderate hike. More info: mountbakerclub.org

CRAFT A CLIMBING ROPE RUG WITH REI: February 23, Bellingham. Bring your

own retired 60 meter climbing rope and make a crafty rug. More info: rei.com/ bellingham

MOUNTAINEERS

SPEAKER

SERIES,

February 23, at Backcountry Essentials in Bellingham. The four women who climbed and snowboarded 24 Cascade Range volcanoes in six weeks last spring will show photos and tell stories about the adventure. More info: backcountryessentials.net

CASCADES ROCK PRESENTATION: Feb-

ruary 24 at Western Washington University. Climber and author Blake Herrington will present his new guidebook, Cascades Rock. The presentation includes a slideshow and short film. More info: outdoor.as.wwu.edu

February 26, 4–8 p.m., Depot Market Square, Bellingham. A networking party for outdoor industry professionals, combined with a free-to-the-public expo for the outdoor recreation community. Come on up to Bellingham and meet with like-minded outdoorsy people who like adventuring in the great outdoors. More info: recreationnorthwest.com

MEC NORTH VANCOUVER RACE: Feb-

ruary 27, North Vancouver. Run through the beautiful Lower Seymour Conservation forest in North Vancouver. Warm up with pre-race yoga and choose between a 5K or 10K trail race. More info: events. mec.ca

North Lake Whatcom Hike: Febru-

ary 27, Bellingham. Join Mount Baker Club members on a long, flat hike along the shore of Lake Whatcom. More info: mountbakerclub.org

OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY WITH REI:

February 28, Bellingham. Learn about the rule of thirds, leading lines and get other tips on composing outdoor photos with local photographer Andy Bronson. More info: rei.com/bellingham

March MEET ULTRAMARATHONER KRISSY MOEHL AT MEC, March 1, Langley. Kris-

sy Moehl, an ultramarathon runner and director of the Chuckanut 50K, will be signing copies of her fantastic new book, “Running Your First Ultra.” More info: events.mec.ca

B.C. Boat and Sportmens Show:

March 4-6, Abbotsford, B.C. Expo featuring the best of the boating, hunting and fishing industries. More info: masterpromotions.ca

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

Seattle Bike Show:

March 5-6, Seattle. The expo for all things cycling. Mountain biking, ride and glide, pump track jam, speaker series, classic bike show and more. Learn about E-Bikes, take home sweet giveaways and win big prizes. More info: seattlebikeshow.com

Padden Mudfest: March 6, Bellingham. Wooded single-track trail run in Lake Padden Park. More info: gbrc.net

Wings Over Water Northwest Birding Festival: March 11-13, Blaine. Learn from birding experts and watch a stunning array of bird species in Blaine, Birch Bay and Semiahmoo. More info: wingsoverwaterbirdingfestival.com

Mussels in the Kettles: March 12,

Whidbey Island. Mountain bike and poker ride among the famous kettles trail system. More info: musselsinthekettles.net

Fragrance Lake Trail hike: March

12, Bellingham. Join Mount Baker Club Members on a hike to Fragrance Lake. More info: mountbakerclub.com

STEWART MOUNTAIN HALF MARATHON: March 12, Bellingham. The race

to the top of Stewart Mountain returns for the second year. The Stewart Mountain Half Marathon starts at North Lake Whatcom Trailhead (hertz Trail) and runs along Lake Whatcom before heading up Stewart Mopuntain. More info: bellinghamtrail.com

CHUCKANUT 50K TRAIL RUN: March 19, Fairhaven. The race starts and finishes on the level interurban trail, but it’s known for the middle 30k that climbs, traverses and descends the slopes of the beautiful Chuckanut Mountain ridge. More info: chuckanut50krace.com Guemes Island Bike and Hike:

March 20, Guemes Island. Join Mount Baker Club members on biking and hiking around Guemes Island. More info: mountbakerclub.org

BACKPACKING WASHINGTON’S MOUNTAINS WITH REI: March 21, Bellingham.

This course covers gear, getting to the trail and other backpacking essentials for the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges. No experience necessary. More info: rei. com/bellingham

Oyster Dome/Cliff House Hike:

March 23, Bellingham. Join Mount Baker Club members on a hike to Oyster Dome and dinner at the Cliff House restaurant. More info: mountbakerclub.org

IFSA JUNIOR REGIONAL FREERIDE:

March 26, Mt. Baker Ski Area. The best junior freeskiers show their skills on Mt. Baker’s legendary terrain. More info: mtbaker.us

Mount Baker Club slideshow and potluck: March 26, Bellingham. Inter-

ested in joining the Mount Baker Club? Join them for a slideshow and potluck dinner. More info: mountbakerclub.org

GOLDEN EGG HUNT: March 26, Mt. Baker Ski Area. Find the golden egg to win a season’s pass to Mt. Baker Ski Area next winter. More info: mtbaker.us

CAMP COOKING BASICS WITH REI:

March 28, Bellingham. This course covers cooking equipment, meal planning and preparation for backpackers. More info: rei.com/bellingham

MountBakerExperience.com

APRIL Recycled Art and resource expo:

April 1-2, Bellingham. Discover the magic of creative reuse. See found objects turned into beautiful and functional works of art. More info: alliedarts.org

BIRCH BAY ROAD RACE: April 2, Birch

American maritime heritage with canoe races and other festivities. More info: penncovewaterfestival.com

Memorial Day Parade in Coupeville: May 28, Coupeville. Celebrate

Memorial Day in Coupeville with a parade, concert and picnic. More info: coupevillechamber.com

ANACORTES

1620 Commercial Ave (360) 588-8776

BURLINGTON

1704 S Burlington Blvd (360) 757-7910

OAK HARBOR

731 SE Pioneer Way (360) 682-6546

SKAGITCYCLECENTER.COM

Bay. A spectacular run along the scenic shores of Birch Bay and country roads. The event includes a 5K, 15K and 30K. More info: birchbayroadrace.com

Deception Pass. Marathon, half marathon and kids race on trails through beautiful Deception Pass. More info: bellinghamtrail.com

20, 40 and 60 - mile routes in the beautiful Skagit Valley during our annual world-famous Tulip Festival. Proceeds benefit Safe Kids Northwest, a coalition of Safe Kids USA, focusing on prevention of injuries in children 19 and under.

Tulip Run: April 9, Burlington. 5-mile

and 2-mile runs through the blooming tulip fields of Skagit Valley. More info: tuliprun.com

Registration at: www.active.com

Whidbey Island Marathon: April

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15-16, Whidbey Island. Marathon, half, 10k, 5k and kids run, along with an expo and spaghetti feed on beautiful Whidbey Island. More info: whidbeyislandmarathon.com

VANCOUVER MARATHON: May 1, Van-

couver B.C. The Vancouver Marathon, a top marathon known for its scenic views and shoreline running, is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year. The event includes a marathon, marathon relay, a half marathon, an 8K, a kids run and a 2.5 K walk. More info: bmovanmarathon.ca

Penn Cove Water Festival: May

14, Coupeville. A celebration of Native

CMYK / .eps

Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .eps

facebook.com/SafeKidsTulipPedal 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. La Conner Elementary School • La Conner, WA

Vancouver Sun Run: April 17, Van-

May

TREK • GIANT SPECIALIZED ELECTRA • KONA

April 16th 2016

Deception Pass Marathon: April 2,

couver, B.C. One of the largest starting lines in Canada, this iconic fun run supports charitable causes. More info: vancouversun.com/sunrun

Sales Rentals Service

Ski to Sea:

May 29, Bellingham. The iconic multi-sport race of the northwest. Ski, run, bike and paddle from Mount Baker to Bellingham Bay. Put together a team and register, or join the festivities in Bellingham and Fairhaven. More info: skitosea.com

Saturday, April 2, 2016

June Mount Baker music skillshare retreat: June 3-5, Glacier. Three days of

camping and musical collaboration in the heart of the Mount Baker region. More info: musicskillshare.com

March 5-6, 2016 SeattleBikeShow.com

CE NT ER

TWO EVENTS ONE TICKET March 5-6, 2016 17 & Under FREE

TrailToAdventure.com

EN V E

CenturyLink Field Event Center

Travel • Adventure • Gear

CE N

Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

By Pat Grubb

good Stuff Guide

platypus meta bottle Choose your size, .75 and 1.0L, and head downtown or into the backcountry. This tough hydration device compacts into half its size and can accommodate a Microfilter ($49.95). BPA-, BPSand phthalate-free and is easy to clean. $19.95-$21.95 MSRP

platy.com

Dakine Seeker 15l backpack

BlockerLite Dry Sack

Dakine’s new Seeker backpack was designed with the hard-core mountain biker in mind. The roll-top/side zip design protects against rain while the removable spine protector guards against rocky impacts. Includes a 2L reservoir and features pad and helmet carry, padded side phone pocket and fleece-lined sunglass pocket. $225 MSRP

dakine.com

Super strong waterproof silicone/polyurethane-coated nylon keeps your stuff dry and safe, regardless of the adventure you’re on. Ultra-light rolltop welded seams stand up to whatever abuse the elements hand out. $15.95-$26.95 MSRP

Therm-a-rest quadra Just because you’re camping doesn’t mean you should be uncomfortable. The light-weight Quadra packs into its own base, sets up in a wink and has a mesh pocket for books, phones or beverages. Ripstop nylon means you’ll be toting and sitting in this chair for years. $119.95 MSRP

sealinegear.com

Stumpjumper FSR Expert Carbon 650B Save your shekels for this wonder from Specialized. This all-round trail bike is lightweight, strong and stiff. The all-new SWAT door on the downtube allows you to store a pump, tube or whatever without rattling. Cody from Skagit Cycle Center calls it a “pretty sweet bike.” $5,900 MSRP

thermarest.com

skagitcyclecenter.com

Luxe Towel Just cause you’re out in the country doesn’t mean you leave all the comforts at home. This quick-drying terry knit absorbs five times its weight in water. Antimicrobial. $12.95-$44.95 MSRP

packtowl.com

By Oliver Lazenby

nlike last year, it’s actually snowing in the North Cascades this winter. That’s good news for skiers and snowboarders but bad for hikers hoping for a repeat of 2015, when you could get to many high country trails in June. The high mountains can’t be beat, but northern Cascadia has plenty of hikes below the snow line. The foothills and the Chuckanut Mountains have a season’s worth of hiking destinations, and the San Juan Islands have plenty more trails leading to waterfalls, beaches and island-studded views. Here are a few of the best.

Squires Lake and Alger Alp Length: 5 miles out and back Elevation gain: 1,000 feet Getting there: Take exit 242 on I-5 and head east. Turn right onto Nulle Road and continue for about a mile to the signed Squires Lake Park parking lot on the left. The hike: Squires Lake, on the south end of the Chuckanut formation, is a popular destination for a short walk. Alger Alp, a couple miles beyond the lake, is a lesser-visited high point in the Chuckanut formation with views that reach all the way to the Puget Sound and San Juan Islands. A short, steep trail switchbacks up a forested slope from Squires Lake Park to Squires Lake, a 0.3-mile walk. A popular loop trail circles the forested lake, leading to viewpoints and benches. To continue to Alger Alp, go right (south) at the lake and find the trail up a forested ridge leading beyond the boundary of Squires Lake Park. The trail meanders through salal and Oregon grape along a narrow ridge until it meets an abandoned logging road, about 1 mile from the parking lot. From here, follow roads to the summit of Alger Alp. Continue straight at a junction where a road leads to the right, down a hill. Bear right at another junction and left at one more, maintaining a generally uphill course along the road. About 2.5 miles from the trailhead, the road arrives at the summit of Alger Alp. A ledge above sandstone cliffs on the summit’s west side provides views toward the Salish Sea, as well as the fields and farmlands at the border of Whatcom and Skagit counties.

Raptor Ridge Length: 5.2 miles out and back Elevation gain: 1,300 feet Directions to trailhead: Two separate trailheads have routes to Raptor Ridge. The longer one starts at Arroyo Park, just south of Fairhaven. The shorter, steeper approach described here starts at the Pine and Cedar Lakes trailhead. To get there from Bellingham, go south on State Street toward Fairhaven. Continue south from Fairhaven on Chuckanut Drive for 1.5 miles to the junction with Old Samish Parkway. Turn left onto Old Samish Parkway and continue for 2 miles to the parking lot on the south side of the road. The hike: While it’s nowhere near as popular as Oyster Dome, farther south in the Chuckanut Mountains, the jaunt up Raptor Ridge is one of the best in the small coastal range. This part of the Chuckanuts is packed with beauty – nearby Pine and Cedar lakes also make great destinations, and so does a viewpoint above Cedar Lake with a peek-a-boo view toward the San Juan Islands. From the south end of the parking lot, the trail begins climbing steeply on a wide path. The grade doesn’t relent as the trail climbs through a forest of firs and cedars. The trees get older as you climb. In 1.5 miles, go right at a junction with Hemlock Trail (left goes toward Pine and Cedar lakes). From here, continue for 0.3 miles and take a left at a signed junction with the Raptor Ridge Trail, which leads uphill. The climax of the hike is a rocky outcrop on Raptor Ridge, where hikers can recline on sandstone and look south into the relatively remote center of the Chuckanut Mountains.

Mountain Lake Loop, Orcas Island Length: 3.9 miles round-trip Elevation gain: 50 feet Getting there: From Eastsound on Orcas Island, go east on Crescent Beach Road toward Moran State Park. Turn right onto Olga Road and follow it south into Moran State Park. Bear left onto Mount Constitution Road, 1.4 miles from the entrance to Moran State Park. Stay right in 1 mile to turn onto Mountain Lake Turnoff. Park at the lot in Mountain Lake Campground, near the end of the road. The hike: The Mountain Lake Loop is a perfect excuse for a spring getaway to Orcas Island. The deep blue lake is a world-class swimming hole in the summer, but in winter and spring it’s quiet and relatively deserted. On quiet days only the sound of water lapping against the shore accompanies hikers on the gentle path along the forested lake. From the parking lot, go north on a flat path along the lake’s western shore. The lake is about 100 feet deep at its deepest, according to a report by the San Juan County Water Resource Management Committee. Several little islands reach out of the depths to break the surface on this western stretch of shore. Along the way, a couple of trails lead away from Mountain Lake to Twin Lakes and Mount Pickett. For the 3.9-mile hike, simply hug the shore at each junction. You’ll pass through dense forest and marshes and along small cliffs above the lake. Cross Cascade Creek on a bridge at the south end of the lake and continue 0.8 miles more to reach the parking lot.

Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Where to Eat Acme/Van Zandt

Bellingham

Acme Diner

BelleWood Acres

2045 Valley Highway (Hwy 9) 360/595-0150 acme-diner.com This ’50s-style diner’s friendly staff is ready to serve you great home-cooked food; fresh ground hamburgers, daily dinner specials, gluten free meals, pizza, espresso, homemade desserts and Acme ice cream.

Blue Mountain Grill

974 Valley Highway (Hwy 9) 360/595-2200 bluemountaingrill.com Fresh, homemade fare, including baked bread and desserts made daily, steaks and burgers. Open for lunch and dinner every day, and breakfast on weekends. Enjoy a beautiful view of the Twin Sisters.

Everybody’s Store

5465 Potter Road, off Highway 9 360/592-2297 everybodys.com This delightful, eclectic store features a wide array of gourmet meats, specialty cheeses and fine wines, many of which are made locally. Also check out their great selection of clothing, books and artwork.

6140 Guide Meridian, Lynden 360/318-7720 bellewoodfarms.com Visit the distillery, farm, country store and bistro for artisan food products and Northwest gifts. Visit the website for a full list of entertainment and family activities.

Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen

601 W. Holly Street 360/752-3377 chuckanutbreweryandkitchen.com Enjoy world-class European-style award-winning lagers and ales, and a local-centric menu of fresh American cuisine including woodstone pizzas, burgers, seafood, salads and more.

Keenan’s at the Pier inside the Chrysalis Inn & Spa

804 10th Street 360/392-5510 thechrysalisinn.com Featuring a seasonal menu, full bar and terrace bar open for happy hour every day, 3–6 p.m. Enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner daily with a view of Bellingham Bay and the San Juan Islands from every table.

The Historic Rome Deli & Grocery 2908 Mt. Baker Highway 360/592-5841

romegrocery.com Celebrating 100 years! Serving grilled paninis, soup, local produce and natural groceries. Craft beer and wine, espresso and fresh baked goods. Open 6 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Westside Pizza

7260 Cordata Parkway, Suite 107 360/756-5055 Pizza made with only the best ingredients available, and dough made fresh every day. The perfect place to stop after a long, hungry day of adventuring.

Burlington Skagit’s Own Fish Market

18042 Hwy 20 360/707-2722 skagitfish.com Offering the highest quality in local seafood. Daily lunch specials freshly prepared. Local jams, jellies, salsas, honey and sauces. Visit them on Facebook.

Concrete 5B’s Bakery

45597 Main Street 360/853-8700 5bsbakery.com Skagit County’s premier bakeshop serving home-style breads as well as a full array of fresh baked goods and classic American desserts. Dedicated

gluten free. Great food for everyone. Open 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Closed Tuesdays.

Annie’s Pizza Station

44568 State Route 20 360/853-7227 anniespizzastation.com Family-owned pizza restaurant focusing on fresh, homemade quality Italian fare. Friendly service, helpful information and great food combine for an unforgettable experience.

Deming Rifugio’s Country Italian Cuisine

5415 Mt. Baker Highway 360/592-2888 ilcafferifugio.com Gourmet full-service menu, serving wine, beer and espresso at reasonable prices. 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Thursday– Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 15 minutes from Bellingham. New drive-up bar. Live music and events. Last stop for WiFi.

The North Fork Brewery and Beer Shrine

6186 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2337 northforkbrewery.com Looking for marriage or a pint of fresh ale and hand-tossed pizza? Our pizzeria, brewery, wedding chapel and beer museum is your place! Open to all. Monday–Friday: dinner; Saturday– Sunday: lunch and dinner.

Welcome Grocery

5565 Mount Baker Highway 360/922-7294 Brand new! Eat in or take out. Freshmade, homestyle breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pastries, deli sandwiches, rotisserie chicken and more. Largest bottle shop in region.

Everson Herb Niemann’s Steak House Restaurant

203 W. Main Street 360/966-2855 eversonsteakhouse.com Nestled in the middle of Everson, serving a mouth-watering array of steaks, Bavarian specialties, seafood and desserts to customers since 1993. Offers atmospheres for adults and families alike, including parties up to 50.

Glacier Bar Veneto

9990 A Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2863 barveneto.com An elegant, cozy space in the foothills to enjoy a classic craft cocktail, a unique and delicious wine, a local or exclusive beer. The new not-to-bemissed restaurant/bar in the area.

14TH ANNUAL

FUN FOR E T H E E N T IR ! Y IL M FA

NORTHWEST BIRDING FESTIVAL BLAINE • BIRCH BAY • SEMIAHMOO

MARCH 11, 12 & 13 H Wildlife & Birding Field Trips H Expert Wildlife Speakers H Live Raptor Presentations H Kids’ Activities

H Food, Art & Craft Vendors H Wildlife Exhibits H Photography Workshop H Wildlife Boating Cruises

Friday, Mar. 11 • Festival Opening Reception 6 PM at Loomis Trail Golf & Country Club 4342 Loomis Trail Rd. • Blaine

Saturday Mar. 12 • ALL DAY BIRDING EXPO At Blaine Middle School 975 H Street • Blaine

Sunday, Mar. 13 • Exploring Birch Bay Birds • Birding Breakfast Buffet & Presentation • Birding & Photography Field Trip, Nature Workshop at BP Heron Center in Birch Bay State Park

.com

EVENT SPONSORS W a s h i n g t o n ’s S e a s i d e R e t r e a t .

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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER

wingsoverwaterbirdingfestival.com • 1-800-624-3555 40

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

MountBakerExperience.com

Chair 9 Woodstone Pizza and Bar

10459 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2511 chair9.com The perfect place to enjoy a great family meal or a brew after a day on the mountain. Bands play weekends. Try the “Canuck’s Deluxe” pizza, a staff favorite. Open for lunch and dinner. Dine in or take out. Check music events on Facebook.

1 Bourne Street, 9990 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-3300 milanospizzadelivery.com Came back from a long hike? All day skiing? Don’t want to leave the cabin? Hungry? Call Milano’s Pizza. Highest quality ingredients, baked to perfection and delivered to your door. Just call 360/599-3300.

6903 Bourne Street 360/599-9378 getsconed.com Open daily 7:30 a.m. to 5ish p.m. Serving breakfast burritos, quiche, soup, lunch wraps and freshly baked goods. Savory and sweet gluten-free options. Organic espresso and coffee. Indoor and outdoor seating. Dine in or take out.

Milano’s Restaurant

Maple Falls

9989 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-9883 Grab a stool at the legendary bar and enjoy rotating selections of fine craft beers, ciders and wine. New menu specials – appetizers, sandwiches and dinner. Breakfast weekends.

9990 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2863 milanosrestaurantbar.com For 25 years Milano’s has been a landmark of the Mt Baker foothills. Now you get our improved traditional Italian recipes plus daily specials to make you remember us. A feast for all senses.

Milano’s Pizza

Wake ‘N Bakery

Graham’s Restaurant

Crave ’N Burgers and Brew

7471 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-9595 Stop in and enjoy a variety of signature 100% Angus burgers, or build your own. Served with hand-cut French fries. Try a local tap beer and wings. “Feed your crave’n.” Open daily for lunch and dinner.

Your east county and foothills real estate specialist! Providing the finest residential real estate services with uncompromising principles. • First time home-buying • Residential resale/New Construction • Marketing strategies to get your home sold

Marty Kutschbach Real Estate Broker

Call Marty! 360.319.0695 2015

VIEW MY LISTINGS: www.MartyK.JohnLScott.com

Where to Stay Bellingham Springhill Suites Bellingham

4040 Northwest Avenue 360/714-9600 springhillbellingham.com Discover a hotel infused with smart and stylish design, offering a seamless blend of comfort and functionality. Enjoy our newly redesigned spaces to work, relax and connect and be completely in sync with the hotel experience you want.

The Chrysalis InN & Spa

804 10th Street 360/756-1005 thechrysalisinn.com Each guest room overlooks a spectacular Northwest seascape. Spacious rooms feature fireplace, down comforters, luxury amenities and a two-person bath elegantly set in natural slate. Three distinctive room types offer increasing levels of luxury.

Glacier A Chalet at Mt. Baker

7087 Bluet Pass 360/367-0963 chaletatmtbaker.com Enjoy all things outdoors. Chalet is warm and inviting with lots of beautiful wood and a cozy wood-burning stove. Sleeps 4–6. Hot tub on outdoor deck, fire pit area. Great rates!

Blue T Lodge

10459 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-9944 bluetlodge.com

Conveniently located behind Chair 9 Woodstone Pizza and Bar, this six-room inn is ideal for families or groups. Clean rooms have queen-sized beds, a full bathroom and private small patios as well as access to a meeting space.

Luxury Getaways

9989 Mt. Baker Highway 360/398-9590 or 877/90-BAKER stayatmtbaker.com From mountain chalets to waterfront lodges, Luxury Getaways offers overnight accommodations in newly built vacation homes located in the heart of the Mt. Baker Recreational Area. Perfect for hitting the slopes and relaxing.

Mt. Baker Vacation Rentals

360/671-5383 mtbakervacationrentals. com Come stay with us! All our properties are located in and around the Glacier area, a short drive to Mt. Baker. Winter, Summer or in between. Get up here… “Top of the Mountain to you!”

The Logs at Canyon Creek

7577 Canyon View Dr., Glacier Springs 360/599-2711 thelogs.com Cozy log cabins with kitchens and fireplaces.

Snowater Resort and Condominiums 10500 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2724 snowater.org

One and two-bedroom rentals available. Recreation centers with indoor pools and sauna. Indoor/outdoor racquetball courts.

Maple Falls

Introducing the

Baker Accommodations

2016 Volvo XC90 T6 Momentum SUV

7425 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2999 or 888/6957533 bakeraccommodations.com Baker Accommodations offers cabins and condos in the resort developments of Snowater, Snowline and Mt. Baker Rim, conveniently located just east of Glacier.

A new level of safety and luxury. Engine: 2.0L 1-4 cyl Transmission: 8 speed Auto/AWD MPG Range: 20/25 Exterior Color: Osmium Gray

Mt. Baker Lodging

7463 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2453 or 800/7097669 mtbakerlodging.com Mt. Baker Lodging offers cabins, condos, chalets and executive rental home accommodations. A number of selected units are pet friendly. Walk-in reservations and one-night stays available.

1601 Iowa St. • Bellingham

KING VOLVO

Local 360-255-5999 Toll Free (888) 493-3189 KingVolvo.com

Proudly Serving Whatcom County for over 69 Years

Winthrop Chewuch Inn

223 White Avenue 800/747-3107 chewuchinn.com Guest rooms for romantic getaways, seasonal travelers and outdoor enthusiasts. The relaxed atmosphere of a B&B with the privacy of a hotel. Centrally located for an abundance of outdoor adventures in the surrounding wilderness areas.

“Traditional Service Meeting Modern Needs.”

Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

BE HEARD

Baker to Bellingham Recreation Plan

Whatcom County Project Location

Sumas 547

546

Lynden

No ok sa ck

Everson North

Local input will help decide how to manage recreation on DNR land between Mount Baker and Bellingham

Fork

544

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Mount Baker

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ant more trails? Campgrounds? Picnic areas? The Washington State Department of Natural Resources is working on a recreation plan for 86,000 acres of state land between Mt. Baker and Bellingham. The plan will guide DNR policy on working forests in the area for the next 10-15 years. A volunteer recreation planning committee is meeting to help guide the planning process. Follow the planning process at dnr.wa.gov/bakertobellingham

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Proposed DNR Recreation Planning Area (Approx. 86,000 Acres). Other DNR-managed trust lands

Highways

2016 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport

City Limits

4 Miles

Map updated 12-10-2015

Extreme care was used during the compilation of this map to insure accuracy. However, due to changes in ownership and the need to rely on outside information, the Department of Natural Resources cannot accept responsibilities for errors or omissions.Therefore, there are no warranties which accompany this material.

Ready for spring! The all new redesigned

2016 Honda Civic MSRP:

$20,275 Ask us about our lowest sales tax guarantee.

Picture may not represent actual vehicle.

2010 Iowa Street • Bellingham, WA 98229

www.northwesthonda.com

360-676-2277

Northwest Honda...proud to be family owned and operated, serving Whatcom County for almost 30 years!

Let’s go places! The truck with everything you’d expect from Toyota, and THEN some. Come experience ‘The Wilson Way!’ Family Owned and Operated serving the community for 60 years!

Tacoma TRD Sport, 4D Double Cab, V6, 6-Speed Automatic, 4WD, Inferno Orange, & Graphite. Stock # T6295

$37,998

Totally transformed.

2016 Kia Soul Base More fun to drive, more advanced technology, more surprises. We’ve packed almost everything into the 2016 Soul.

Starting MSRP:

$15,800

City/hwy mpg 24/31

1100 Iowa Street • Bellingham WA 98229

360-676-0600 www.wilsontoyota.com

2016 Toyota 4Runner SR5 42

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

Discover what’s inside for yourself.

Smith Kia of Bellingham

888-216-3101

1804 Iowa Street • Bellingham WA 98229 • www.smithkia.com MountBakerExperience.com

John E Tack Construction General Contractor New Construction • Additions Remodels • Repairs

(360) 410-6235

www.johnetackconstruction.com LIC# JOHNEET925KL

AA Right Lock Service

SE 4-DR, 4WD

Refreshingly modern, sporty attitude! CITY: 23 HWY: 32

AA Right Tree Service

• Re-Key • Keys by Code • Lock-Outs • Lost Keys made • Post Office Box Lock Replacements

2016 Ford Escape

• Take Down & Limbing Steve Kure (360) 733-0648

Serving Whatcom County for 30 years.

Cont. #AARIG-066BD

Picture may not represent actual vehicle.

Stock #6FT2042 • VIN# 1FMCU9GX5GUB39435

Deep Impact Blue • Intercooled Turbo Regular Unleaded I-4 1.6 L/98 • 6-Speed Automatic w/OD • 4WD Sport Utility

MSRP: $29,825 Savings: $2,875 A Diehl You Can Count On:

$26,950

1820 James St. • Bellingham I-5 Exit 254

DIEHL 360-392-7000 • 800-628-9331 FORD • LINCOLN

QUALITY SALES AND SERVICE TO OUR CUSTOMERS SINCE 1908

www.DiehlFord.com • www.DiehlLincoln.com

WANTED We need vacation homes!

Glacier and Maple Falls homeowners: are you looking for ways to off-set the debt service on your 2nd home? Consider placing your vacation property in the Mt. Baker Lodging vacation rental program.

Is Your Windshield Chipped or Cracked? Your safety is our concern.

• Windshield Replacement • Rock Chip Repairs • Side & Back Glass Replacement

Dinner on us!

with every windshield installed.

• FRee Pick-up & Delivery • FRee Loaner Cars • FRee Quotes

We have your windshield in stock!

"The only certified and validated auto glass company in Whatcom, Skagit, and Island Counties for safe auto glass installation the Auto Glass 2011 Large by Business of the YearSafety Council."

To Our Canadian Friends

2011 Large Business of the Year Enjoy Huge Savings with U.S. Prices

Bellingham

Lynden

Family Owned and Operated Since 1929!

Mt. Vernon

Windshield Replacement Rock Chip Repairs 1512 N. State St. • 360-734-3840 407 19th St. • 360-354-3232 1721 E. College Way • 360-424-9759 Side & Back Glass Replacement Family Owned and Operated Since 1929! Free Loaner Cars Free Pick up & Delivery

www.LouisAutoGlass.com Windshield Replacement Rock Chip Repairs Dinner on Us Side & Glass Replacement withBack every windshield purchased and installed. Cars Free Pick up & Delivery Bellingham Lynden Free Loaner Mt. Vernon 1512 N. State St.

(360) 734-3840

407 19th Dinner onSt.Us

1721 E. College Way

(360) 354-3232

(360) 424-9759

Mt. Baker Lodging offers a full-service “turn-key” program that combines extensive marketing with reservation procurement and professional housekeeping services, providing you with hassle-free rental income that assists in reducing the debt service associated with owning and maintaining a second home. Our Clients enjoy peace-of-mind while working with the Mt. Baker area’s oldest, largest and most established vacation rental agency. Mt. Baker Lodging provides friendly and knowledgeable personnel in a fully staffed local area office, utilizing a direct hands-on approach to managing the properties that we represent. Our Clients also have the flexibility of utilizing their homes for personal use between rental occasions. It’s a win/win!

Call 360-599-2453 x113

Mt. Baker Lodging, Inc. 7463 Mt. Baker Highway Maple Falls WA 98266-2002 www.mtbakerlodging.com reservations @ mtbakerlodging.com Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Inside

Arc'teryx

A new approach to Avy Air bags Story and photos By Oliver Lazenby

n the second floor of the Arc’teryx design facility in North Vancouver, the first thing a visitor sees after climbing the stairs is a custom machine for laminating technical fabric. Like some of the clothing and gear prototypes scattered throughout the facility, Arc’teryx doesn’t want visitors to take pictures of the machine. That’s because – like the clothing prototypes – it doesn’t exist outside the office and they don’t want competitors to see it. “We don’t just push the envelope with gear, we push the envelope with manufacturing,” Arc’teryx communications director Jo Salamon said. “We get to MacGyver a lot of machines.” The design center isn’t just filled with computers – though there are plenty of designers working on computers – it’s also packed with fabric, thread, pack prototypes made from construction paper, and people working with their hands. This hands-on approach to design is one factor that allowed Arc’teryx, a company known for its simple but highly technical clothing, to break into a new market – avalanche airbag backpacks. Their pack, called the Voltair, will be available this fall. The Voltair features a 150-liter airbag that bursts out of the top of the pack with the pull of a handle, helping an endangered skier float to the surface of an avalanche. It was designed in North Vancouver, tested 20 minutes to the north on Mount Seymour, and manufactured 15 minutes south in Burnaby. The local process means that pack designers don’t have to wait weeks for samples of the pack to come back from an overseas manufacturer. “It really cuts lead time,” Salamon said.

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

The company doesn’t do all its manufacturing in Canada – much of it is done overseas – but for products like the new pack, manufacturing in North America is essential, Salamon said. Designwise, the pack is one of Arc’teryx’s more complicated products. The company has been working on the pack for more than six years, said Peter Hill, a lead designer with 30 years of experience building backpacks. Hill came on board at Arc’teryx two years ago. His workspace is covered in works-in-progress, including samples of the top of the pack, which he built over and over on top of a plywood form. The compartment with the balloon was one of the many “cruxes” of the design, Hill said. The balloon had to release from the pack in all conditions, including after being soaked with water and frozen for 24 hours, and still go back into the compartment afterward. Would that number of samples and tweaks have been possible if the company didn’t manufacture in Vancouver? “The short answer is no,” Hill said. “Everyone else will do designs and then go back and forth to Asia. It takes three weeks to a month to send something to Asia and get it back.” The Voltair pack works on the same principles as the dozen or so other avalanche airbag packs on the market. Hill explains it like this: when you shake a can of mixed nuts, the biggest nuts rise to the top. “In an avalanche, you want to be the biggest nut out there,” he said. “With the extra 150 liters from the balloon, you’re the biggest nut.” In that regard, Arcteryx's avalanche airbag pack doesn't break any new ground. The Voltair, like Black Diamond’s JetForce pack, uses a powerful, battery-powered fan to inflate its balloon, rather than a cartridge of compressed air, which is more common in avalanche airbag packs. The fan-powered balloons can be deployed over and over, whereas the cartridge-powered packs can only be deployed once; then the cartridge needs to be refilled with compressed

air at a dive shop or fire station. Arc’teryx’s bag has some clever tweaks and improvements, but Hill says the real visionary thinking came from the people who first thought to put a balloon in a pack. Statistics paint a favorable picture of airbag packs. In a 2014 article in The Avalanche Review, Pascal Haegeli, a Canadian avalanche researcher, found that an inflated airbag pack reduced the death rate for people in big avalanches from 22 percent to 11 percent. In other words, it saved about half the people who would have died otherwise. But 20 percent of the time people with airbag packs were actually in avalanches, the airbag, for one reason or another, didn’t inflate. Incorrect use caused most of those non-inflations, the study found. “I am a big fan of users being able to regularly practice inflations with their airbag,” Haegeli said in an email. “This is a general advantage that battery-powered airbags have.” Hill thinks the non-deployment problem goes beyond a lack of practice. A cartridge-powered pack can only be inflated once per trip. Someone could hesitate to pull the trigger because they won’t be able to use the airbag for the rest of the trip “I've been out with people who got buried up to their thighs in slides and didn't use the airbag because they were waiting to see if they would need it,” Hill said. If you prematurely pull the trigger with a fan-powered pack, the consequences are low: your friends laugh at you, then you stuff the balloon back into the pack and you’re good to go, Hill said. That helps condition the user to pulling right away, at any sign of instability or cracking. That way, users train their muscle memory and develop a habit of pulling the handle to deploy the airbag. “With this guy, you can set it off repeatedly. The penalty for being scared is not that much.” Hill said. “The impact is, you do it automatically rather than wait to see if it’s necessary.”

MountBakerExperience.com

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getgetthe app! app! • local•events local events •the restaurants • restaurants get the app! get the • local • local events events • restaurants • restaurants • stores • stores • attractions •app! attractions free app

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• coupons, • coupons, and more! and more!CHALET AT MT BAKER events • •stores •localstores • attractions •• restaurants attractions • local events • restaurants • stores • local events• •attractions restaurants • coupons, • coupons, andand more! more! coupons, more! ••stores attractions • stores •• and attractions • coupons, and more! • coupons, and more! The Mt. Baker Guest App lets you review details of your reservations such as cost, payments, balance due, times, driving The Mt. The Baker Mt.check-in/check-out Baker Guest Guest App lets App you lets review youdirections review detailsdetails of of unit amenities. Guests can share reservation The Mt. Baker Guest App lets you review details of your reservations yourand reservations such assuch cost, as payments, cost, payments, balance balance The Mt. Baker Guest App lets you review details of detailsreservations with other members of their party. balance as payments, your reservations such such as cost, cost, payments, balancedirections due, check-in/check-out due,your check-in/check-out times, times, driving driving directions due, check-in/check-out times, driving directions due, check-in/check-out times, driving directions and unit andamenities. unit amenities. Guests Guests can share can reservation share reservation and unit amenities. Guests can share reservation and unit amenities. Guests can share reservation details with other members of their party. detailsdetails with other with members other members of their of party. their party. details with other members of their party.

1 Night Stays Available! COZY CHALET is WARM and INVITING, with OUTDOOR HOT TUB!

The Mt. Baker TheGuest Mt. Baker App lets Guest youApp review lets you details review of details of Book Online, at www.VRBO.com/779920 or Call 360-367-0963 your reservations your reservations such as www.mtbakerlodging.com cost,such payments, as cost,balance payments, balance due, check-in/check-out due, check-in/check-out times, driving times, directions driving directions The Mt. Baker Guest App lets you review details of and unit amenities. and unitGuests amenities. canas Guests share reservation can share reservation your reservations such cost, payments, balance www.mtbakerlodging.com due, check-in/check-out times, driving directions www.mtbakerlodging.com www.mtbakerlodging.com details withdetails other members with other ofmembers their party. of their party. and unit amenities. Guests can share reservation details with other members of their party.

www.mtbakerlodging.com www.mtbakerlodging.com www.mtbakerlodging.com

Resort Condominiums

Full and Fractional Condo Sales and Rentals Available

Come Experience Snowater Resort,

Gateway to the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest and Ski Area

360-599-2724

Glacier, WA

www.snowater.org Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

CHAIR 9

at canyon creek

WOODSTONE PIZZA & BAR

Full Menu & Family Dining

Happy Hour

Upstairs Game Room Free WiFi

Mon-Fri 11am-4pm

Cozy Log Cabins

Mid Week Stay 2 nights, 3rd is FREE Special* the *excluding holidays

Fireplaces Kitchens

7577 Canyon View Dr. (Glacier Springs) Glacier, WA

360-599-2711

www.thelogs.com

Watch NFL & College games - 6 big screen TVs

LIVE MUSIC - Check

for schedule

PRIVATE ROOM available for parties and events.

CATERING for all your party needs.

10459 Mt. Baker Hwy Glacier, WA

360/599-2511 www.Chair9.com

Located behind Milano’s Restaurant • www.mtbaker.com 360-599-2008 • 888-466-7392 • 9996 Forest St., Glacier, WA

Glacier’s Only Hotel Located next to Chair 9 A great place to rest your head after your mountain adventure!

360/599-9944

Ask about pet-friendly rooms

www.bluetlodge.com

Satisfy your vacation rental needs.

Office 7425 Mt. Baker Hwy. • Maple Falls

BakerAccommodations.com • 1.888.695.7533 Presented By

From Mountain Chalets to Waterfront Lodges, Luxury Getaways offers overnight accommodations in newly built vacation rentals located in the heart of the Mt. Baker recreational area.

March 11th, 12th, 13th 2016 Free Splitboard demos, Clinics, and more

Beneﬁting www.stayatmtbaker.com

360.398.9590

9989 Mt. Baker Highway 46

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

•

Glacier, WA

Hosted at Chair 9 Glacier, WA For more info: www.splitfest.com

facebook.com/mtbakersplitfest MountBakerExperience.com

9966 Mt. Baker Hwy • Glacier • GlacierSkiShop.com

HAM’ RA GLACIER, WA S H I N G T O N

Serving great food 7 days a week

9989 Mt Baker HWY

360-599-9883

ST AU R A

H GREAT FOOD H LIVE MUSIC H HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS H BREAKFAST WEEKENDS

Glacier Ski Shop

Behind Milano’s Restaurant • Open everyday at 7:30 am Behind Milano’s Restaurant • Open everyday at 7:30 am

360-599-1943

Fresh Baked Goods BrB&earkfeasatkBufarritoss,t Strictly Organic Coffee & Espresso ASoupllL&uDQunaiccheyh

Glacier

Noww SSeeNrrvovin ing

Best Rates

R E N TA L S

Downhill • Tele • X-C • AT • Snowboards • Snowshoes VoTeD BeST

tune shop Binding Mounts • Hotwax • Ski & Board Tunes

HOT SHOTS

E STOR BIG SCOOPS

Espresso • Ice Cream • Groceries • Bagel Sandwiches • Videos • Local Crafts & More

Glacier, WA • 599-2665

Milano’s Restaurant Fresh Pasta

open 7 days a week

Local Seafood Lunch • Happy Hour • Dinner

9990 Mt. Baker Hwy. Glacier, WA • 360.599.2863 www.MilanosRestaurantBar.com

Bar Veneto Tapas Menu Classic Cocktails Wine • Beer • Spirits

Fresh from the oven!

360.599.2863 www.BarVeneto.com

Milano’s Pizza

Highest quality ingredients, baked to perfection, delivered to your door. PICKUP OR DELIVERY ONLY OPEN FRI-SUN

360.599.3300

6900 BOURNE ST.

www.MilanosPizzaDelivery.com

nded Hours xte Fri. & Sat. 9AM-9PM

Private Cabins, Cottages & Condos at the Gateway to Mt. Baker

NEXT DOOR...

LODGING

through March

Walk-in reservations and 1 night stays available!

1-800-709-7669 OPEN DAILY • 9AM - 5 PM

Mt. Baker Lodging, Inc. 7463 Mt. Baker Hwy. • Maple Falls, WA www.MtBakerLodging.com

Side door of Milano’s Restaurant Spring 2016 | Mount Baker Experience

Encounter the beauty, adventure and fun of the North Cascades! To learn more about what awaits you, visit skagittours.com or call (360) 854-2589. NORTH CASCADES INSTITUTE Connecting people, nature and community through education since 1986. ncascades.org (360) 854-2589 NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK Enjoy summer learning and recreation. nps.gov/noca (360) 854-7200

Follow Skagit Tours:

Mount Baker Experience | Spring 2016

MountBakerExperience.com