December 7, 2004, Mt. Baker

I spent the 7th and 8th at Baker enjoying the powder.  On the 7th I ended up touring just outside the ski boundary. I planned to ski Herman but the road to the upper lodge was closed.  A tow truck was attempting to winch a vehicle out of a ravine about 100' down.  Someone didn't make the hairpin turn and had a slalom ride in their vehicle down the ravine. Spent the night in the camper at the White Salmon lot and woke to 3" new and a continous storm all day. Another 3" fell in a few hours.  Too bad Baker is 3 hours from Seattle.

Zap

Zap, your literary skills are without compare, your nose for fresh powder legendary, your skiing prowess almost superhuman...but I judge even your unique talents insufficient to enjoy skiing the 8th of December prior to midnight on the 7th.  

That aside, a Seattle resident with a taste for speed and an acute sense of timing can make Baker in just 2.5 hours.  Stop by anytime.

Yesterday (12/07) Ellen Butzel and I were also over there.  We went over to Herman Saddle for better visibility.  I was surprised how much new snow there was there since Sunday.  It was pretty skied up Sunday but yesterday I saw only a trace of a couple of tracks.  Fairly windy.  Returning back to the parking lot, we saw about a half a dozen slides from the Table Mt. half of the valley that extended down to the lake.

Mark, I usually never leave a powder event but I had to return to Seattle for a couple of doctor appts on Wednesday.  Even more important , Jill and I take my grandson(age 3) for his ski lesson at Mini Mtn in Bellevue(an indoor revolving carpet).  I must admit that I have been working on the development of his "sherpa"  skills since his arrival.  The first words he heard from me on day 1 was "how much fun it is to break trail for grandpa and also carrying some of my pack weight is fun".  I figure you folks will be tired of helping an aging powder sleuth and I need to develop another tier of trail breakers.  Looks like today is "the day" at Baker.  My whitewater kayak friends are already gleaming about Friday's runoff.

Zap