Monday, February 13, 2006
Mount Baker Legendary Banked Slalom
Now for the part that Marci is going to hate:click here to watch the video
You're gonna need the latest version of Quicktime to watch it Windows people.
Recently got back from the Banked Slalom at Baker and as always, you never know what that race has in store. The mountain was setting records for snowfall for the entire month of January so we were totally pumped to hit it up. Every day I looked at the report it read about the same. 12 inches overnight and 18 inches in the last 24 hours.
Wednesday night we took the train from Whitefish, MT over to Seattle. As they shut the doors on us the conductor politely informed us that due to mudslides in Edmonds we would be riding a bus from Spokane into Seattle. In Seattle we met up with some friends that were also racing and eventually made our way out to Glacier.
Day 1 Qualifiers: February 3
Friday morning we headed up to Baker early and got our race pack which included goodies like a Banked Slalom Hoodie and Belt, some One Ball Jay wax, snacks and more. We got out and made a couple incredibly good warm up runs and the whole mountain was super soft for not receiving any snow overnight.
The course was amazing. It was totally filled in and buttery smooth. It was like a long soft bobsled course. It also made me realize how out of shape my legs were. As your get 3/4 of the way down the course you wonder if they are going to hold out. My time was alright but I missed qualifying for the finals in Mens Amateur by a couple people.
Josh & Jill Johns scraping at the base
Barrett Cummins riding in Pro Womens
Josh Johns - Pro Mens
Rob Morrow - Pro Mens
Day 2 - The Storm: February 4
The second day we heard rumors in our motel that the race might be cancelled due to 70 MPH winds and heavy snow up on the mountain. We check the snow report and they said the mountain was closed but could possibly open later in the day. We decided to go check it out as opposed to sitting in Glacier wondering. Once on the mountain they made the decision to cancel the race for the day and the top 50% of qualifiers made the finals. Which we were totally stoked because that meant everyone we were with was riding sunday. If you botched your run though you were SOL.
We spent the rest of the day playing cards, some ping pong and foosball, and waxing the hell out of our boards as it completely poured rain down in Glacier.
Day 3 - Finals: February 5
The finals day was one of the best pow days in recent memory. The whole mountain just got dumped on from the previous day and there was a solid 18 inches of fresh all over. The first couple of runs were surreal. I doubt there is any mountain in the world where so many people were all charging rad lines at the same time. We were totally amped just watching people ride from the chair. Everything was rideable. So Fun. Later in the afternoon the clouds lifted a little and Mt. Shuksan came out. Incredible place.
The course was in good shape too. Super fast, you just had to make sure you stayed on course our you were waist deep in fresh. I made that mistake twice in my first run but stood up my whole second run and was pumped.
Josh Johns forground - Mt. Shuksan, Background
Louie Fountain - Pro Mens
Another shot of Shuksan with Jill in the forground (courtesy of Josh)
The awards and Salmon BBQ ended up being combined into one event out the parking lot. The sun set. Everyone was eating some good food, drinking beer and getting a little cold. All the Ams got a huge bag of loot, and all placing pros got some awesome Pendleton Blankets. Top three pros all got custom designed surfboards as well as the duct tape trophies and the winner of each category, of course, got their Carhartt Jacket.
Me at the awards/Salmon BBQ/Bonfire
Guy Zoellner enjoying the Beer Garden
Aaron Robinson, Whitefish kid, showing off his new Carhartt Jacket for winning Younger Ams
Pro Women winners with Surfboards and rolls of Duct Tape in hand
Pro men winners
Guy looking out at Pugeot Sound on the train ride back to MT.
click here to watch the video
