storyboard.jpg

Words & Illustration: Adam Haynes

hr_dotted.jpg

It took me five years to get into the Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom (LBS). Five years of dutifully submitting the application, sending off the check and, after nearly throwing in the towel, finally getting the green light to be in the race. That was back in 2006, and for the last five years it’s been an annual goal to head north to Mt. Baker from Bend, Oregon, put down a clean course run, ride some new lines, meet some new friends, and ultimately, try to snag that golden ticket to come back the following year. Each season Baker has become a bigger part of my winter, a fixture on my February calendar, and I plan nearly everything else around it. It’s not just a contest. The LBS is about seeing the board graphics I designed the previous summer, taking laps on Hemispheres with friends I see once a year, camping in the rain, stretching in the lodge, spending two hours waxing my board and falling to the ground exhausted after the run of my life.

Two years ago, my buddy Josh invited me to camp in the parking lot with him. He’d recently bought a topper for his truck and was eager to test out his new sleeping arrangement. I’ve got an old Land Cruiser with plenty of room for sleeping, so I agreed to brave the parking lot with him. A couple of buddies ended up showing up with proper campers, and before we knew it we had a good bunch of dudes to chill with after the parking lot emptied. Snow camping can be a bit uncomfortable when the weather gets nasty, so each year I’ve made some refinements to my old truck. An indoor propane heater, some insulated curtains, a nice down bag, and a big heavy Pendleton blanket shelter me from the unpredictable northwest weather. There’s nothing quite like opening your eyes in the predawn, rubbing a view port in the frosty window, and watching the moon set over Mt. Shuksan. There’s not much nightlife up at the lodge, so it’s early to bed and early to rise. It’s easy to have a relaxing morning, grab some coffee, warm up the boots, maybe check some email, and still have plenty of time to nab first chair.

I’ve found a few benefits to “dirtbagging it” in my truck. Without the stress of the morning drive and dodging all the law that swarms up to Mt. B for the LBS that I faced when I first started going to the event, it has transformed for me. It’s pure snowboarding at one of the finest places in the world to shred and the muddy parking lot becomes a second home. I’ve never been one for the morning commute. I work out of my home, commuting about thirty feet from bed to coffee maker to drawing table. Watching the parking lot empty at the end of the day can be a bit lonely, but then I realize a few friends and I have the whole place to ourselves until the morning.The first year we asked a lodge employee about any rules or concerns they might have about us hanging out up there, and we
were informed that as long as we didn’t burn the lodge down, we’d have no problems. Sure, we miss some good parties down in the surrounding towns of Glacier and Maple Falls but at the end of a long day of shredding, we’re home. In the parking lot there’s nowhere to go and nothing to do but
make some food, pass out, and do it all again the next day.

Burton Snow Porn: Danny Davis, Stephan Maurer, and Terje Haakonsen rip it up at last years LBS
Check out the videos & gallery from the 2011 Legendary Banked Slalom

hr_dotted.jpg

Last year was the 26th running of the LBS, and it was one for the memory books. Thursday was a fine day, no pressure from the contest, some old pow leftover from earlier in the week, and a fine crew to hike with. Watching pro riders Josh Dirksen and Johnny Paxson destroy The Arm was a sight to behold, and I figured my trip was already made regardless of what happened the rest of the weekend. That night, the weather got nasty. On Friday it rained, snowed, and sleeted, –the type of crappy weather that the northwest is infamous for. Saturday it got a little colder, but the snow was still pretty awful. Happily, I qualified for finals on Friday, so the pressure was off for a little while. Too soon, the lodge closed for the evening, and I spent the rest of the night curled up in the back of my truck waiting out the storm and wondering why I felt the need to punish myself in such a way.

Sunday dawned, and brought with it one of the finest days I’ve ever experienced at Baker. My division (Masters) ran early, and the course had so much fresh snow that I could barely see the riders after the first few turns due to the huge pow roosters that followed in their wake. I laughed my way down both runs, slashers on every turn! The rest of the day was a blur. I met my heroes, hiked until my legs were jelly, and couldn’t wipe the grin off of my face. At 3:15 p.m. I found myself riding up chair 5 with my buddy Andrew. We were considering a last hike before the mountain was closed for the day. After a bit of debate, our tired legs voicing most of the opposition, we arrived at the top and saw a couple of familiar faces getting ready to hike. At their invitation, we readily agreed it would be a crime to call it a day. Both Kevin and Sky are seasoned Baker locals, and Sky had his heart set on a chute far out on the Shuksan Arm. We were game and started the long haul east, farther than I’d ever ventured before. 

I won’t lie, there was some trepidation, as we were still breaking trail at 4:30 p.m. looking back at the resort and seeing the empty, motionless chairs and not a single person on the slope. The forbidding bulk of Mt. Shuksan loomed overhead, closer than ever before, and I felt the worry start to creep in. Finally, Sky indicated that we had arrived at a safe zone in the middle of massive avalanche terrain. We picked our way down the ridgeline carefully ending up at the top of two blind chutes, a few hundred vertical apiece. Sky took the first one and ended up far below coming into view at top speed. Carefully, I picked my way past the large sentinel cornice guarding the second chute and dropped in. Steep, soft, perfect turns followed as I dropped into one of the best runs of the year. The way back proved to be less of an adventure and twenty or so minutes later we slid to a stop back at the lodge. The awards were in full swing, and I’d just settled myself against a pillar when my division was called. Silver duct tape to top off the day [Silver Duct tape is the trophy awarded to second place in the LBS-ED]! I was stoked and spent, and best of all I knew that I’d be coming back next year.

Check out the videos & gallery from the 2011 Legendary Banked Slalom

hr_dotted.jpg

This article was featured in Volume 8 Issue 2.
Don't get the magazine? Subscribe now!

lbs.jpg