| What's
New Up the Mountain?
by
Tara Nelson
The
biggest news at Mt. Baker this year is not the $1.3 million
upgrade of chair three from a double chair lift to a quad,
or the fiber optic upgrades installed around the perimeter
for better security and communications.
It’s not the fact that Mt. Baker has almost beaten
its own previous world record for snowfall in a single year
for its 1,140 inches during the 1998/1999 season within the
first few weeks of operation or averages 647 inches per year
and boasts eight quad lifts, one double lift and two rope
tows.
For
Gwyn Howat, office manager of the ski area, the biggest
news this year comes in the form of recognition. This year,
Mt. Baker has earned an unprecedented amount of press both
nationally and internationally for the ski area’s geographical
location, snowfall and management practices that abhor corporate
sponsorship or advertisements at the ski area’s two
base lodges.
Most recently, Skiing magazine’s readers voted Mt.
Baker number 16 in the top 25 out of 740 ski areas in the
country, Howat said. Another article featured a profile
of Mt. Baker as the cover story and highlighted how the
ski area has managed to keep pace with those larger resort
destinations.
“That puts Mt. Baker in the league of Whistler and
Vail which are owned by multinational corporations that have
extremely deep pockets,” she said. “The fact
that a small, independently run ski area such as Baker is
even in the same playing crowd is a little like saying Glacier
gets rated with New York City and San Francisco as a top
destination area, so it’s kind of a big deal.”
Add to that the ski area’s operational budget is
given no advertising dollars, she said, and the story becomes
more impressive. Howat said she thinks the ski area was
noted for its snow, varied terrain and a business philosophy
that makes a conscious attempt to make the Mt. Baker experience
feel as natural as possible.
“We don’t just take it seriously, we invest in
it,” she said. “We’ve stuck with it because
it’s just something we believe in and our friends and
local people have supported us and stick with us. But it’s
hard to compete in an industry where one of the finest resort
destinations in America is not far from us at Whistler and
they’re known for their night life and shopping
as much as their skiing.”
Howat said on average, the ski area forfeits between $50,000
and $75,000 a year in potential advertising revenue. The
only exceptions are during an event or special program and
even then the ski area allows only temporary banner ads during
the event.
“We wanted to make the ski area feel like when you
came to Mt. Baker, you were arriving in the mountains with
a few services to make your experience enjoyable, as opposed
to arriving at another city in the mountains,” Howat
said. “Part of how we helped to do that was to not
allow any advertising at the ski area. So you won’t
see any Pepsi logos or Starbucks logos or anything
like that.”
Howat
added that not only has their non-advertisement business
model been able to survive, but has actually given them
a competitive market edge in an industry that has diverged
tremendously from the natural elements involved with skiing
and snowboarding, in what Howat calls the difference between “people
who vacation at Club Med and those that go on an
ecotour.”
Part of that strateg-y’s success, she conceded, is
rooted in a relatively progressive culture that surrounds
the Bellingham area. Howat also credits the mountain’s
massive annual snowfall and varied terrain.
“When you look at an aerial photograph of Mt. Baker,
it’s very difficult to see that because we’ve
used the natural terrain in the layout of the ski area,” she
said. “We haven’t just gone out and
bulldozed every hill and knob and turn, they
all follow the natural lay of the land. In addition,
there is more variety of steep and intermediate
terrain consolidated into a concise area than
other areas. So in other words, we have as much
variety of terrain in 1,000 acres than it takes
some ski areas many thousands of acres to have.”
“So people don’t realize that in this little
old corner of Northeast Whatcom County that they live in
a truly spectacular area,” she said. “They don’t
recognize that they live on the north shore of
Oahu. That is, what Oahu is to surfing, Mt. Baker
is to skiing and snowboarding.”
Ski and snowboard classes
Mt. Baker ski area offers a variety of classes for beginners
to individual coaching for those just wanting to polish up
on their turns. Their mountain safety program is also nationally
recognized as one of the best snow safety programs in the
nation and teaches snow science and transceiver and rescue
skills.
One of the most popular programs is the Komo Kulshan (the
original American Indian name for Mt. Baker) program for
parents and their children ages 7 to 15 years. Classes are
eight weeks long and cost is $147. Another popular class
is the Winter Ride program, a bussing program for middle
and high school children, that hosts between 1,200 and 1,400
kids.
This year, through their Winter Ride program, Mt. Baker
ski area began offering free Healthy Start breakfasts donated
from Erin Baker’s breakfast food company of Bellingham.
“Last year, we discovered about half of the kids who
came up on the buses hadn’t had breakfast by the time
they got on the mountain, so this year Erin Baker’s
will be sponsoring free healthy starts breakfast of either
a Baker’s Breakfast Cookie or Healthy Start Granola
through their Healthy Start non-profit organization,” said
Howat.
A portion of the revenue from the sales of their products
at the ski area will also be put toward scholarships for
children to learn how to ski, she said.
The Mt. Baker ski area is located 56 miles east of Bellingham
on State Hwy 542. From I-5 take exit 255 east. Their business
office can be reached by calling734-6771. For more information
about their ski and snowboard instructional programs or safety
courses, visit www.mtbaker.us.
Tickets
Adult lift tickets are $39.46 (9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) and $32.04
after 12:30 p.m. on holidays and weekends. On weekdays and
non-holidays, adult lift tickets are
$32.04 and $27.40 after 12:30 p.m. Day ski and snowboard
rental packages are available at the ski area $30.18 and
under and include boots, bindings and board or skis. Lift
passes for children six years and younger are available at
no cost.
Lodging
While there are is not overnight accommodations at Mt.
Baker, several are available in nearby towns of Glacier
and Maple Falls. For a complete list of establishments,
visit www.mtbaker.us/travelers/index.-html. Beware, though,
accommodations are limited and reservations are recommended.
Road conditions are available at the Washington State Department
of Transportation’s web site at www.wsdot.wa.gov/-traffic
or by visiting www.mtbaker.us. |
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