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<\/a><\/p>\nWhen you\u2019re Ken Achenbach, you don\u2019t do anything without two GoPros following you.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The Legendary Mt. Baker Banked Slalom made its triumphant return after a year off due to that bitch mother nature on February 18-21, 2016. The event was super sized for its 30th year, spanning four days of rain, sleet, snow, hail, wind, sun and just about everything else you could throw at a massive group of\u00a0snowboard-types. But you know what they say about the weather at Mt. Baker: if you don\u2019t like it \u2013 leave. And it\u2019s hard to complain after a day like Saturday when competitors awoke to the requisite 8 inches of new snow and were treated to classic Baker goodness that was only mostly tracked out by the time the sun came out in the early afternoon. But enough about the weather \u2013 it\u2019s hardly the reason that people travel around the globe for the legendary event which has happened almost every year since 1985.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s course was the longest and trickiest yet \u2013 43 turns, which at the bottom were so tight speed was slowed to a crawl as competitors did their best to navigate them. Some said it\u2019s the longest banked slalom course anywhere in the world, and all but\u00a0the fastest times topped 2 minutes. If you\u2019ve ever gone balls-to-the-wall for that long you\u2019ll know is a challenge no matter how much yoga you did last night. But it\u2019s all part of what makes the event special. Everyone has their own reasons for trekking East on 542, so for the real scoop, we turned to the pros to get their favorite parts of the weekend.<\/p>\n Hana Beaman and Colleen Quigley.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Hana Beaman<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 My favorite thing about the Baker Banked Slalom is having all these rad people come here and hang out and then get to shred Mt. Baker.\u00a0Especially this weekend it was awesome with the snow and the conditions. Everyone just gets to shred around this mountain and it\u2019s fun because there\u2019s not a lot of people here on the norm. It\u2019s like a party wave.<\/p>\n Jf Pelchat<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 To come here, RVing in the parking lot with friends and family and riding with your kids. After my pro career this is last stop, just being here with your kids and seeing them ripping the course.<\/p>\n Matt Wainhouse and Alex Andrews.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Matt Wainhouse<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Riding down taking the turns after I take my run. It\u2019s relieving and they feel nice and easy.<\/p>\n Austen Sweetin<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 My favorite thing about the event is all the people that are here and all the speed we see hauling ass down these berms. You never know who\u2019s gonna make it or blow out trying.<\/p>\n Tucker Andrews<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Following the Warbs around.<\/p>\n Gus Warbington<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 My favorite thing about the event is the gathering of people.<\/p>\n Max Warbington<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 It\u2019s the bros and everything except for racing down the course. That\u2019s my least favorite. Everything up until that point I like.<\/p>\n Deep snow, deep turns.<\/p>\n Scotty Lago<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Seeing all the people I haven\u2019t seen in forever. I\u2019ve been on the contest circuit and this is whole different group of people that I get to see. People like Jake Blauvelt, Eric Jackson, Patrick McCarthy, Terje Haakonsen. It\u2019s really cool to see everyone in one good setting like this.<\/p>\n Mike Basich<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The people, the environment, the vibe, all the love.<\/p>\n Jake Blauvelt<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Getting to hang with all the legends. Take runs, even outside the course. There\u2019s all the anticipation to get in that course, all the butterflies. You finally get in and get to ride the course and just enjoy it. It\u2019s for your run, but you gotta enjoy it because you don\u2019t get any practice. I love to be here with the legends and enjoy those banked turns because you don\u2019t get that anywhere else in the world.<\/p>\n Madison Blackley<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Everything about this mountain. It\u2019s beautiful here, it\u2019s insane.<\/p>\n Alex Yoder<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 My favorite thing about the Legendary Banked Slalom is camping in the parking lot because I really don\u2019t like commuting. I like waking up and walking to the mountain and they just let you camp here for free and that\u2019s a beautiful thing. And the snowboarding\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n Johnny Brady<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Free Food. The fondue, the salmon, the paella, it\u2019s great.<\/p>\n And if you fell, there was a bitch pow run to be had.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n So it\u2019s settled, the people, the place, the speed, the food. It\u2019s all good and makes the great event. That said, Mattieu Crepel and Maelle Ricker were awarded the\u00a0golden duct tape for going the fastest in the pro division and lots more results are\u00a0here<\/a>. Until next year\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Archives When you\u2019re Ken Achenbach, you don\u2019t do anything without two GoPros following you.\u00a0 The Legendary Mt. Baker Banked Slalom made its triumphant return after a year off due to that bitch mother nature on February 18-21, 2016. The event was super sized for its 30th year, spanning four days of rain, sleet, snow, hail, wind, sun and just about everything else you could throw at a massive group of\u00a0snowboard-types. But you know what they say about the weather at Mt. Baker: if you don\u2019t like it \u2013 leave. And it\u2019s hard to complain after a day like Saturday when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[2194],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55320"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55326,"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55320\/revisions\/55326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brookegeery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n