Industry News
The 36th annual Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom snowboarding competition, set to take place this coming weekend, has been canceled. This is truly a shame as Mt. Baker, Washington, was one of the first ski areas to embrace snowboarders, and this event is paramount to the resort’s admired place in snowboarding culture.
The event consists of a timed run through a gully marked with slalom gates that embrace the natural surf-like feeling of snowboarding. Each turn along the 500-foot course is banked like a natural halfpipe and sends G-forces surging as riders endeavor to balance speed with control.
Mt. Baker CEO Gwyn Howat posted a video last Wednesday, saying that conditions had been watched closely and that three things needed to happen for the race to run as planned. It needed not to lose much more of its snow base, it required the temperatures to cool, and it needed a good shot of fresh snow to have enough for a fair and fun event.
Unfortunately, the opposite happened and is being blamed on El Niño. The atmospheric river hitting the area was slow-moving, and the resort lost 14 inches off its base while witnessing three inches of rain. The temperatures did not cool rapidly enough, and the forecast only shows minimal snow accumulations over the next week. The event will not be rescheduled this season but will take place next year on February 7-9, 2025.
The timing of the weather pattern was unlucky, but Howat did say that if conditions improve enough, the resort may host an unofficial “fun run” event on the course over the weekend. This isn’t the first time the event has been canceled, and if history indicates, next year’s event should bode well. In 2005, when the race was canceled for poor conditions, the following year saw 800 inches of snowfall. In 2016, when it was canceled, the following year, it had over 600 inches.
Some are predicting that next year is shaping up well. Cliff Mass, a local Pacific Northwest forecaster, had this to say:
“El Niño is fading away and the temps in the Pacific Ocean are now cooling, which is great news. All natural phenomena have their time and for our current strong El Niño, the time is up. Observations have shown the beginning of a rapid weakening of El Niño, a decline predicted by models for quite some time now, and a decline so substantial that it will lead to a La Niña winter for next year.”
Let’s hope that’s the case. We hate to see classic events like this not happen. This month was also supposed to showcase the Kings & Queens of Corbet’s event at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, but it was also canceled due to low snow conditions. There is still plenty of optimism as winter is far from over, and hopefully, there are many more powder days and fun times to be had.
