Mt. Baker Ski Area skiers and riders were rewarded with excellent early season conditions this week after surviving a disappointing 2023-24 season.
Plenty of snow and cooler temperatures in mid-November meant the ski area was able to make the call on Nov. 17: game on.
Season passholders got first tracks at the ski hill on Wednesday, Nov. 20, but Thursday was Mt. Baker’s official opening day for all visitors.
Mt. Baker CEO Gwyn Howat said Wednesday was probably among the top three best opening days she had ever experienced.
She was standing at the base of Chair 1 on Thursday morning, greeting giddy skiers and riders waiting in line to load as the sun peeked out and illuminated the snow-coated trees dotting the slopes.
“Today’s just another glorious day,” Howat said. “These are the days that remind you what’s magic about this mountain.”
The hill reported 52 inches of snow at Heather Meadows between Friday, Nov. 15 and Wednesday, Nov. 20, with 10 inches falling Tuesday night. The strong winds that hit much of Western Washington were miraculously absent at Mt. Baker. Some trees fell and blocked State Route 542 but the Department of Transportation quickly cleared the road before skier traffic started on Wednesday morning.
“DOT was really on it yesterday,” Howat said. “They put in a huge effort and helped make sure the road was in great shape.”
Gallery: Mt. Baker Ski Area opening day 2024
Gavin Gillespie, 54, who has been skiing Mt. Baker since third grade, and Fred Garvin, 61, who started in 1980, managed to snag first chair on Thursday. Gillespie also skied Wednesday and said it was incredible.
“It’s totally filled in,” he said. “Most lines are skiable.”
Official opening day was quieter than passholder day — on Wednesday, the Heather Meadows lot filled entirely and White Salmon was used for overflow parking.
“And that was just passholders,” Howat said. “That’s part of why we cap season passes — we’re physically constrained.”
Nearly the entire hill was open, and Howat said the amount of skiable terrain available made it feel more like mid-winter. Chair 7 will spin this weekend when the White Salmon base area opens.
The first few days of operations were a marked contrast to the ski area’s rather dismal start to the 2023–24 season. The hill didn’t open until Dec. 13, 2023, and through the winter, snowstorms were often followed by heavy, high-elevation rain — not ideal for keeping snow on the slopes. The Legendary Banked Slalom snowboard race was canceled in February due to abysmal coverage.
But this winter, long-range forecasts call for an emerging La Nina pattern, which is often a harbinger of excellent skiing in the Pacific Northwest. Those in the know at Mt. Baker believe this winter could be similar to the 2016–17 season, during which the ski area received 866 inches.
“There’s been a pretty consistent pattern — about once a decade we have a season with low snow and challenging conditions, then the following season will be a real banger of a year with lots of snow,” marketing director Amy Trowbridge told the Cascadia Daily News earlier this month.
“I’m absolutely stoked,” Gillespie said about the coming season. “It’s going to be a big snow year.”
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
