Endless Backcountry Playground @ Mount Baker, Washington

Mount Baker has long been a proving ground for Northwest skiers. In 1933, Hans Otto Giese and Don Fraser of the Seattle Ski Club completed the first uninterrupted ski descent from Baker’s summit. They climbed the mountain in 6.5 hours and descended 6,750 feet in just 30 minutes. Considering the rudimentary gear of the day, such as wooden skis, leather boots, and minimal avalanche knowledge, their feat is even more impressive (Lowell Skoog’s History).

Ninety years later, that same sense of adventure fuels my own obsession. I make the drive up Highway 542 every weekend from November through April, chasing storms and seeking out the deepest turns in the Northwest. When the snow is right, few places can compare.

In the summer of 2022 a change to the Beacon Guidebook products and to the park itself happened at Hallett Peak in Chaos Canyon. A very large debris slide came free off the southside of Hallett Peak. Apartment complex size boulders slid as well as other varying size boulders and the existing snowfield. In some areas the debris ripped all the way down to the bedrock. No injuries or deaths occurred due to the slide. One of the unexpected by-products of the slide is the change in color of Lake Haiyaha from its typical clear alpine lake look to a sea-green from the “rock-flour” transported into the lake after the slide. Chaos Canyon past Lake Haiyaha is closed until further notice because there are still many active slide areas.