It’s been a while since we last posted here on West Coast Alpine but we have not forgotten about the site. In fact with the upcoming winter season and the Farmer’s Almanac saying we supposed to expect more snow this year and we’re looking forward to writing more about the the ski and snowboarding conditions, events and other aspects of the industry throughout the season.

It will also be interesting to see what sort of impact the 2010 Winter Olympics will have on the nearby winter activities during the month of February. Here in Vancouver things will be changing before February such as road closures and mountain closures and more.

Wishlist for this Winter Season

As I get more into Snowboarding I will be looking into upgrading my gear, though I do probably have to learn more about the gear one uses as well. Recently while we were in Whistler I picked up some Dragon DX goggles as the ones I previously were using were old, borrowed, too small and just not much use anymore. I also cracked the lens last season too.

Not bad looking eh? Not sure how they rate against other goggles out there, but for me they fit well. They are comfortable and should do a better job of blocking out harsh sun on those sunny days on the snow. They also came with interchangeable lenses which will be a good thing due to the varied conditions we tend to ski/ride in. I can’t wait to try them out, but I guess I still have a couple months to wait until we start getting our snowfall.

Other equipment I need to upgrade would be for sure a new pair of snowboard boots. One day I’ll look at picking up a new jacket so I’m not entirely dressed in black. My jacket, pants, gloves, board, boots and bindings are all currently black. My helmet is white, and now my goggles are black though with white bits. It’s not all about skill right?

Are you looking forward to this winter season? Let’s hope we get a good snow dump!

Kathleen, Me, and Tyler at Mt. Baker

To get to Mt. Baker we woke up early at 5am and headed east to Abbotsford through the Sumas Boarder Crossing in to the Untied States.  After a quick intermission at the boarder and exaggerating the truth to the boarder guard about having fruit in our car we headed off the windy back roads to Mt. Baker.  I have never skied Mt. Baker and was surprised that the roads to get there were so narrow through farm land and forests.

View of Mount Shuksan – one of the two mountains in Mt. Baker’s ski fields

I must say, Mt. Baker is so beautiful!  The terrain is very picturesque and with their alpine base at over 200cm (111 inches) that day there was lot’s of snow.  Initially, I was under the impression that Mt. Baker was as big as Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains but I found the terrain there to be a similar size to Grouse Mountain.

Mt. Baker

One thing I noticed immediately was the boring names they use for their chairlifts…ie. C-5, C-8, C-7.  Speaking of Mt. Baker’s chairlifts, I was NOT happy!  They feel very unsafe!  They do not have a restraining bar and you have to be ready for them to ’scoop’ you up or get hit by them when you get on.  They are older quad chairs but I was shocked that they didn’t have a restraining device to keep you in your chair.  It was especially scary when the chair stopped and swung in mid-air…

Tyler with the Mt. Baker trail map contemplating our next move after lunch

However, despite being a smaller mountain the terrain was awesome!  Very fun and lot’s of snow.  Our favorite run of the day was a black diamond called Canyon which we went down three times despite the sketchy chairlift C-6 to get up to it =)  We also enjoyed the other terrain the mountain had to offer and it did have lot’s of wide runs and extensive blue terrain.  We discovered the snow was less tracked out on the right side (Mt. Baker side) of the mountain and much less busy.

View down our favorite run of the day Canyon

Overall, it was a very long but great day to Mt. Baker.  I would love to go again sometime soon.  I just have to work up enough courage to get back on their chairlifts.

What is WestCoastAlpine?

Well it is a joint effort for Robyn and I to bring you the latest of the happenings on winter activities around the west coast of Canada. We will publish news about the local mountains, Whistler/Blackcomb to even the mountains in the Interior such as Big White and Silver Star.

We will also talk about our weekly ski and snowboarding days as we will probably be hitting a mountain at least once a week.

Other topics which we will both discuss is information about new gear, upcoming gear from brands such as Burton, Salomon and others.

We will keep you up to date on upcoming events the mountains will be having as well as special discounts or deals on gear, lodging and lift passes.

So stay tuned!

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