What’s more tiring, skiing, or hearing about skiing? Your wife’s been bragging about her Kootenay winter vacations for years … and winter’s here again. She keeps reminding you, “Last year it snowed two feet the week I went to Whitewater Mountain Resort!” Enough already. Next she’ll be on about how they kept the grassroots vibe even though they added a new lift in 2023, boosting to 3,247 skiable acres—and she still never crosses a track until noon on a powder day. 

Then there was the year she decided to start ticking off her “bucket list” and go cat skiing. And then again the next year when she went heli-skiing, because there are more backcountry operations around Kootenay Lake than anywhere else in the world, and the terrain is “unmatched.” This winter she wants to try ski touring, and you just know it’s going to be the same endless gloating at the end of each day. 

But that’s no reason to stay home. Spokane, along with its international airport, is only three hours from Nelson, and a winter vacation poses its own restorative effects, even if you’re not into skiing or snowboarding. Visiting the serene shores of Kootenay Lake is easier than getting to Mexico—plus, you won’t get a sunburn. Not to mention the Canadian peso is an all-time bargain right now. But what does a man of more discerning tastes do to keep occupied? 

Ever been to a hot spring in the winter? It’s the quintessential Kootenay way to unwind: soaking in the contrasting benefits of hot and cold. Ainsworth Hot Springs Resort is just a short trip up the road from Nelson, with developed pools that are a natural delight, and rejuvenating waters that work magic to peel back big-city stresses. 

A walking tour of Nelson is likewise especially storybook in winter, highlighted by Victorian architecture and dozens of curated murals. Getting around by foot is quick and quaint, offering time to escape into one of many warm independent bookstores, or dozens of cafés—many of which roast their own beans and are award winners. Locals here have coffee for blood. 

But maybe breweries are more your thing. There are three in Nelson, and one up in picturesque Kaslo, just an hour up the road. The slow, winding drive along Kootenay Lake is mesmerizing in the winter, with views of snowcapped mountains reflecting off a glassy lake that never fully freezes. You can also take the world’s longest free ferry across the lake to Balfour, for an extra scenic cruise. 

But if you don’t have a rental vehicle, because the frequent shuttles from Spokane are just as quick and easy and Nelson itself is decidedly walkable, you can still keep busy right in town. There are more restaurants per capita in the Queen City of the Kootenays (that’s Nelson) than even San Francisco and Manhattan. It’s a culinary scene that foodies around the world flock to, crammed into four ornate city blocks.

 

Only 30 minutes north of the Washington border, Nelson’s architecture is a throwback to the turn of the century: a mix of American-style Italianate brick façades reminiscent of old Seattle, and granite-blocked civic buildings with distinct Victorian influences. There are over 350 heritage buildings surrounding downtown’s Baker Street, all built between 1895 and 1924—edifices that make the town distinct in the Canadian Mountain West.  

Like the stately Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery, which will take you back to the frontier years, as will a visit to the S.S. Moyie Sternwheeler up in Kaslo: the oldest intact passenger vessel of its kind in the world. While you’re up there, Kaslo’s Langham Cultural Centre showcases contemporary and traditional exhibits year-round: a cosmopolitan amenity in an impossibly cute village framed by diamond peaks overlooking a placid lake.  

Art’s also on tap all winter long at Nelson’s Oxygen Art Centre, as well as at a plethora of galleries and artisan studios. As the undisputed cultural capital of the Kootenays, there are always shows at the Capitol Theatre, featuring local and national talent, performing dance, theater and musicals. Music, by the way, pulses winterlong at venues like Bloom Nightclub and Spiritbar; Nelson is also a sleeper hub for electronic artists the world over. 

But if you want to keep it simple, there are, of course, plenty of pubs and that Canadian staple, the good, old hockey game. The Nelson Leafs are a Junior A championship team that seldom disappoints. Which is perfectly in keeping with the area at large. Not everybody loves sliding on snow, and we get that—but everybody loves winning. The wife might have just bagged her best day on snow ever, but visit Nelson and Kootenay Lake along with her and it’s bragging rights for all. 

Traveling to Nelson, BC, This Winter? 

Why Not Take the Shuttle? 

Skip the drive and hop on the Kootenay Charters shuttle servicing Nelson, Castlegar and Rossland direct from the Spokane Airport. For complete details on departure dates and times, just scan here. Book now at Kootenaycharters.com/spokanewintershuttle or reach out with questions at info@kootenayCharters.com or (250) 365-2871. 

The post How To Not Go Skiing in Nelson, BC  appeared first on Out There Venture.

Cover photo courtesy of Alistair Sedgwick 

Fifty years ago, a small group of dreamers carved out a little ski hill in the Selkirk Mountains. There were no grand plans, no corporate blueprints and no intention of becoming anything other than a place where powder seekers felt at home. Half a century later, Whitewater Mountain Resort has evolved and expanded, yet the heart of the experience remains unchanged. It is still the place where deep snow, great food and an unbeatably friendly community set the tone for your entire trip. 

Located less than an hour north of the Canadian border, Whitewater sits in the snowy heart of the West Kootenays, where reliable storm cycles keep the snow deep all winter long. The terrain is playful, the atmosphere relaxed and the American dollar stretches even further. While the industry around it has shifted toward corporate models and major developments, Whitewater has stayed true to its roots. The resort remains independently and locally owned, with a focus on exceptional snow, memorable meals and a genuine connection to the people who visit. 

A Place to Stay That Feels Like Yours 

For slope-side seclusion, the Hummingbird Lodge boutique suite sleeps six and is one of the most peaceful stays in BC. Quietly tucked near the resort’s Nordic trails, the suite offers a level of privacy that is rare in ski country. Mornings start slowly as light rises over Ymir Peak and evenings settle into a calm that encourages you to linger by the fire. Whether you are here for a long stay or a quick getaway, the suite feels like your own mountain retreat. 

If you prefer to base yourself in Nelson, the vibrant and eclectic city just 13 miles away, you will find excellent dining, live music, boutique hotels and the creative spirit the Kootenays are known for. The area is also a gateway to natural hot springs, Nordic skiing, and world-class backcountry, cat and heli adventures. 

A Smooth Trip to Deep Snow 

Travelers from Spokane and beyond can book a direct shuttle from Spokane International Airport to Nelson at Kootenaycharters.com. Operating five days a week throughout the winter, this convenient service allows you to relax and focus on the adventure ahead. From Nelson, it is a simple connection on the Whitewater shuttle for a stress-free, car-free trip to the mountain. 

Honoring the Past While Looking to the Future 

As Whitewater celebrates its 50th winter, the resort continues to write the next chapter of its mountain story. The recent expansion into Ymir Bowl, accessed from the Raven Chair, introduced new runs, new glades and the resort’s first south-facing alpine terrain. The result is a larger playground that still feels uncrowded and true to the Whitewater way. 

As the resort grows into a four-season destination, the core values remain unchanged. Whitewater is still independently and locally owned, community-focused and dedicated to preserving the character that has defined it for 50 years. If you’re looking for an authentic and unforgettable ski getaway, you’ll find it at Whitewater this winter. Learn more at Whitewatermountainresort.com and stay up to date on the latest and greatest resort updates at @whitewatermountainresort. 

Sponsored

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Cover photo courtesy of RED Mountain/ Iain Reid

There are ski trips—and then there are ski experiences that stay with you long after the snow melts. Just two hours north of Spokane, tucked into the stunning Monashee Mountains and a mere breath from the U.S. border, RED Mountain offers that deeper kind of escape. This is where the lift lines are short, the locals are friendly, and the mountains feel like they still belong to the people who love them most. This is where The Good Life runs deep. 

For decades, RED has held strong as one of North America’s most authentic, unspoiled ski destinations. And while its reputation for big terrain, uncrowded slopes and endless powder stashes has spread far beyond the Kootenays, the resort has never lost its soul. In a world of ever-expanding mega-resorts, RED remains fiercely independent—reflected in its laid-back culture and commitment to community. 

A Ski Destination That Still Feels Real 

RED Mountain isn’t about flash or pretense. It’s about phenomenal skiing in a place that feels grounded. With 3,850 acres of terrain, spread across five distinct peaks, RED is one of the largest ski resorts on the continent—but you wouldn’t know it from the vibe. There are no crowds buzzing around village plazas, no elbow-to-elbow lift queues and no pressure to “be seen.” What you’ll find instead are wide-open groomers, steep trees, playful natural features and that unmistakable Kootenay powder that keeps loyal skiers coming back season after season. 

A typical morning at RED might start with sunrise views over the Monashee Mountains as you drop into perfectly corduroyed runs off Silverlode or Paradise. For the adventurous, Granite Mountain’s renowned tree skiing offers some of the best fall-line terrain in BC, while Grey Mountain delivers bowl after bowl of powder-faced bliss. And if you’re seeking something truly unique, RED still operates pay-per-run cat skiing on Mt. Kirkup, giving guests a taste of backcountry-style skiing for the mere cost of $20 CAD per lap. 

In short, if you dream of skiing like it used to be—unfiltered, unhurried and unbelievably good—RED is your place. 

Where the Community Shapes the Experience 

One of RED’s most defining features has nothing to do with snow—it’s the people. The resort sits at the edge of Rossland, British Columbia, a storied mountain town that feels both timeless and full of energy. Known as the “Mountain Biking Capital of Canada” in the summer and an outdoor wonderland year-round, Rossland is the kind of community that still opens doors for strangers and gathers everyone at the local brewery after a big storm cycle. 

Rossland’s roots run deep. Founded in the late 1800s as a booming gold-rush town, it has evolved into one of the most vibrant adventure-sport communities in the Pacific Northwest. Its historic downtown, with brick storefronts and friendly cafés, sits just minutes from RED and offers everything from craft beer and artisanal bakeries to gear shops and independent boutiques. But what truly sets Rossland apart is its sense of belonging. Visitors often comment that within a day, Rossland feels less like a destination and more like a place you’ve always known. 

And the connection between town and mountain is seamless. Skiers grab après at local favorites like Rossland Beer Co. or the Flying Steamshovel before heading back into the snowglobe glow of this cozy, walkable community. Festivals, live music, and local events breathe life into winter nights, making a ski vacation here feel like more than just a getaway—it’s an immersion. 

Close to Home, but a World Away 

For skiers and riders in Spokane and the greater Inland Northwest, RED Mountain offers an unbeatable combination: world-class terrain that’s close enough for a weekend, but with an international twist that makes it feel like a true escape. 

From downtown Spokane, the route to RED is straightforward and scenic. Within 90 minutes, you’re at the U.S.-Canada border in Frontier, WA/Northport, WA, and from there it’s just a short drive to Rossland’s welcoming streets and RED’s base area. Many Spokane residents are surprised to learn just how close BC’s legendary Powder Highway really is—and that some of its best skiing begins almost immediately across the border. 

Because RED is so close, it’s perfect for families wanting a low-stress trip, couples looking for something new, or groups chasing fresh snow without the hassle of long travel days or busy airports. A passport, a tank of gas and a sense of adventure are all you need. 

The Good Life Lives Here 

RED Mountain Resort has built its identity around more than just incredible skiing. “The Good Life” is a phrase you’ll hear often—and it isn’t marketing fluff. It represents a way of living that prioritizes time over hurry, connection over crowds and genuine experience over polished perfection. 

You feel it when you’re riding the chairlift with someone who moved here decades ago and never left. You feel it when you ski terrain that feels untouched, even days after a snowfall. You feel it when you walk through Rossland and realize the town doesn’t just live next to the mountain—it lives with it. 

That authenticity is exactly what today’s travelers crave, and it’s what keeps RED Mountain at the top of “hidden gem” lists year after year. Yet RED remains committed to staying true to its roots: friendly, accessible, community-driven and wildly fun. 

Plan Your Winter Escape 

Whether you’re seeking deep powder, long groomers, family-friendly vibes or simply a resort with soul, RED Mountain delivers. And with its close proximity to Spokane, the ease of the border crossing and the warm embrace of Rossland’s mountain community, your next great winter adventure is closer than you think. 

This season, discover a place where skiing feels pure again. Discover a community where everyone is welcomed. Discover a mountain where The Good Life isn’t a slogan—it’s a way of being. Discover RED. 

Sponsored

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By Barry Campbell 

Cover photo courtesy of Terry Cooper

As the saying goes, it pays to be in the right place at the right time. And sometimes the pay isn’t in the form of income, but life experiences. Terry Cooper, founder of the regional ski-cult hit “Ski Flakes” videos, can tell you all about that.  

Cooper grew up in South Carolina and, like so many others, took a long and winding path to Sandpoint, Idaho. After serving in the Navy during the final years of the Vietnam War—including the evacuation of the country in 1975—he set out on a restless quest for meaning. He crisscrossed the country on a motorcycle, pedaled thousands of miles by bike, and ultimately found his way into the Rocky Mountains. 

By the early 1980s, he and his wife, Brenda, had moved to Sandpoint after a stint in Steamboat Springs, Colo. For Cooper, who had fallen in love with skiing in the low-lying resorts of North Carolina before discovering Colorado’s big mountains, Schweitzer offered a new kind of home, and he was hooked when he saw it. “What I wanted to do was ski,” he said. “That was it.” 

A Big Camera and a Bigger Idea 

Skiing was Cooper’s passion, but making a living in Sandpoint required creativity. He bought fixer-upper houses, tended bar, taught ski lessons, and eventually became a realtor. Still, his eyes were on the slopes. The question was, how could he ski as much as possible and share the stoke with others? 

The seed for “Ski Flakes” was planted in Steamboat when Cooper saw a man shooting ski footage on the mountain and screening it at the bar that night. Patrons loved seeing themselves on screen.  

By 1992 he brought that idea to Schweitzer. Inspired, he invested in one of the earliest pro video camcorders. With a little hustle, he arranged to play his ski footage at a local après-ski bar, The Keg (now the St. Bernard), for $30 a week. People started asking for copies. 

Soon, Cooper was selling VHS tapes, experimenting with editing and eyeing local cable TV airtime. He pitched the idea to Schweitzer’s then-owner, Bobbie Huguenin, who saw the potential to connect the mountain with the town. “Ski Flakes” was born. 

From the start, even though it was partially inspired by the gold standard ski filmmaker Warren Miller, it was clear this was a local/regional production. It was raw, spontaneous, and real. “It was reality TV before reality TV,” Cooper said. “You went out, shot whatever was happening and made a story out of it.” 

Will Work for Free Skiing 

Cooper rarely scripted “Ski Flakes.” He didn’t have to. Armed with an attention-grabbing camera, a crew of local characters and an eye for quirky moments, he turned the slopes, bars and parking lots into his stage. 

In the early years, his crew included journalists and storytellers like Liz Zimmerman and Chris Park, who helped craft narratives from Cooper’s footage. In later years, Scott Rulander joined as a second videographer. Their payment? Ski passes bartered through Schweitzer. “We were poor, but we were skiing,” Cooper laughed. Together, they cranked out 60-minute episodes every week during ski season—13 in a row—each a mashup of ski footage, party scenes, interviews and local history. 

Editing was a marathon. Cooper remembers staying up all night on Wednesdays to deliver a finished VHS tape to the cable station Thursday morning. He’d drive tapes to Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene, Spokane and even ship them to Cranbrook for broadcast. The show aired nearly constantly in Sandpoint and on Schweitzer and on prime time in the other markets, reaching an estimated audience of 100,000 viewers. In the pre-internet 1990s that kind of reach was unheard of for a regional ski program, and it caught the attention of advertisers. 

Powder, Parties, and Pioneers 

What made “Ski Flakes” unique was its mix of content. Half the show might be deep powder turns and tree skiing, the other half might be raucous bar parties or tongue-in-cheek interviews. “I didn’t want it to be sexist, but I did want it to be sexy,” Cooper recalled. “People wanted to see themselves having fun, and they wanted to see the characters of the mountain.” 

But Cooper also had a historian’s eye. He sought out Schweitzer’s early pioneers—Jim Toomey, Bud Moon and Jack Fowler—and wove their stories into the show. He tracked down home movies from Schweitzer’s earliest days in the 1960s and preserved them on television. He spent years interviewing Red Mountain legend Booty Griffiths, who helped found one of the oldest ski schools in North America. 

For Cooper, it was never just about turns. It was about people and place. “My goal was never to tell their story,” he said. “It was to have them tell their story.” Over nearly two decades, “Ski Flakes” became a cultural record: Olympians Nancy Greene and Susie Luby; the Mahre brothers; TV personality Ben Stein; extreme skier Glen Plake; and countless locals found themselves immortalized on tape. 

Though Schweitzer was home, “Ski Flakes” expanded into what Cooper dubbed the Borderline Tour, a circuit of ski areas along the U.S.-Canada border: Red Mountain, Whitewater, Fernie, Kimberley, Panorama and Montana’s Big Mountain (now Whitefish Mountain Resort). Years before it was branded the “Powder Highway,” Cooper and crew were skiing it, cameras rolling. 

They didn’t have the luxury of waiting for perfect conditions like big-budget film crews. If it was storming, they shot. If visibility was bad, they turned it into a skit. That improvisational style gave the show an authenticity and relatability that connected with viewers. 

For a self-described ski bum, “Ski Flakes” opened doors that money couldn’t buy (like tours of the secret-est of stashes). Cooper and his friends were invited heli-skiing, cat-skiing and into backcountry bowls. “I’d say, ‘I need to ski first so I can shoot you coming down,’” he laughed. “So I always got first tracks.” 

He filmed scary moments too: huge sluffs flowing over his skis, sketchy helicopter drop-offs and fogbound adventures. But for every adrenaline spike, there was an equally memorable dinner with a ski legend like Mike Wiegele or a behind-the-scenes story with resort pioneers. 

“It was the American Express camera,” Cooper said. “Carte blanche. You showed up with a big camera and people let you in.” Filming “Ski Flakes” also opened a door for him to travel the world with wealthy clients as their personal videographer, including luxe African safaris, Ferrari shows and Bing Crosby’s Los Angeles estate. 

If all this sounds glamorous, the reality was grittier. Cooper had invested tens of thousands of dollars in cameras, editing decks and music rights at a time when he was making only a fraction of that. Editing was primitive and tedious. He sold ads himself in each market—Sandpoint, Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and Cranbrook—often giving small businesses more airtime than they paid for just to help them succeed.  

Financially, “Ski Flakes” survived, but just barely. What sustained the show, though, was passion, barter and Cooper’s other career in real estate. “I talked to every single business in town, trying to get them to buy an ad on my show. And everybody’s like, ‘Television, what are you talking about? I don’t even own a TV. What the @%$# is that?’ It was pretty funny.”  

“I never made a lot of money,” he admitted. “But I got to do things I never would have in my life otherwise.” 

Rex Cosgrove, who has skied at Schweitzer for decades dating back to the mid 70s, recalled that limited channels were available in Sandpoint, and as soon as they arrived in town from their home in Moscow, his kids would turn “Ski Flakes” on—and leave it on—for the weekend. “It was kind of a big deal at the time that you could watch this local skiing culture on TV. And we loved it,” he said. 

Shelf Life 

By 2010 new filming for “Ski Flakes” wound down. Digital editing and internet video were reshaping the media landscape, and the economics of selling ads for a regional ski show no longer worked. But reruns kept it alive—up until 2025, it was still on Sandpoint’s local access cable—and even today, episodes still loop in Pucci’s Pub at Schweitzer.  

Pucci’s owner, Eric Salontai, said that the TV tuned to “Ski Flakes” often gets more viewers than even events like Gonzaga hoops games. “People still will look back toward the Ski Flakes TV. Even we employees still watch because we’re riders and enjoy the mountain scenes,” he said. 

He added that airing footage of Schweitzer’s history, including icons like patrollers Arlene and Ted Cook, and the namesake of his pub, John Pucci, in their prime, complements the pub’s atmosphere. “Ski Flakes just made you feel that you were part of this thing. You’d see familiar faces, and you’d see how much Terry loved the scene he was shooting. And that’s the real telltale of the good that he was doing, because he was super eloquent in his filming. Not derogatory, not vulgar, none of that,” he said. 

These days Cooper doesn’t sit still long, ripping tele-ski and single-track mountain bike lines nearly every day. However, the “Ski Flakes” Worldwide Headquarters (his office) is jam packed with a mountain of epic footage: 7,000 hours of video, only a fraction of which ever aired. He has slowly begun digitizing it, with thoughts of future documentaries or online archives. He also has extensive footage of rock star interviews at the Festival at Sandpoint and other rarities. “It’s history,” he said. “And it has value. You can’t get those stories back once they’re gone.” 

Legacy of a Flake 

In retrospect, “Ski Flakes” was far more than entertainment. It was connective tissue, linking Sandpoint to Schweitzer, Idaho to British Columbia, locals to Olympians. It captured a culture in transition: the rise of snowboarding, the shift from straight 210s to shaped skis, the evolution of après-ski from wild bar parties to today’s typically toned-down and phone-absorbed scenes. Most of all, it preserved the personalities—everyday skiers and mountain characters—who made the Northwest ski scene what it was. 

Today, as GoPros and drones flood social media with instant edits, Cooper’s work reminds us of a different era: one where telling the story took commitment, community and countless late nights with VHS decks and turntables. “Ski Flakes” may not have made Cooper rich, but it gave him—and the Inland Northwest—something even better: a lasting story of the evolution of a sport and a region. 

This winter Barry Campbell plans to chase powder at Schweitzer, soak up some Baja sun and continue building his company, Two Oaks Marketing. 

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Northeast Washington-based Altai Skis puts on this annual gathering of backcountry ski touring enthusiasts, including those interested in Altai Skis’ Hok ski that some have described as a “ski-shoe” that combines elements of a backcountry ski and snowshoe. This year’s weekend event was originally planned for Feb. 7-8, but winter didn’t exactly cooperate. The new later-season date, Feb 28 – March 1, will hopefully bring snowier trails. Festivities both days run from 10 AM to 3 PM and include clinics, group ski tours and Altai Skis demo gear for all ages and abilities. The Altai crew also gives away some pretty sweet prizes and there will be a fire pit and hot beverages in the parking lot. Altai Skis sells backcountry skis that are inspired by the origins of skiing in the Altai Mountains of China, where they’ve been used as a tool for backcountry travel and hunting for millennia.  

The festival takes place at Boulder Pass at the Deer Creek Nordic Sno-Park in the Kettle Range mountains west of Curlew. The gathering is a chance to try some of Altai’s gear, including Hoks, on some moderate backcountry slopes near the pass. Hoks, which have a climbing skin built into the base of a short yet wide ski, have slowly been building a cult-like following of snowshoers and skiers looking for a simple and efficient backcountry tool that can be skied just about anywhere. Hoks excel on backcountry tours with short runs and rolling terrain, as they don’t require frequent climbing skin transitions to get back up the next hill. Check for details and any schedule changes due to snow or weather conditions at Altaiskis.com.  

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Each February, Wallace, Idaho, remakes itself into something no one expects: a snow-filled, high-velocity, urban slopestyle battleground. The quiet historic streets transform into a two-block terrain park lined with lights, cheering crowds, an ice bar, and enough adrenaline to power the town’s neon signs for a year. This is Extreme Skijor, the Silver Valley’s most extreme winter festival and one of the most unusual competitions in the Northwest, happening Feb. 13-16, 2026. 

What started eight years ago as a quirky way to liven up a holiday weekend has evolved into a legitimate draw for high-level athletes. Riders now travel from across the country to throw down in front of thousands of spectators for a share of the $10,000 prize purse. They’re not just here to compete; they’re here to put their stamp on what may be the only event where big-mountain attitude meets urban rail-park creativity, all at 30 miles per hour behind a roaring, tracked ATV. 

A Wild Idea That Became Wallace’s Biggest Weekend 

Traditional skijoring involves a horse pulling a skier through a timed obstacle course. But Wallace didn’t have horses; it had snow, grit, ambition and a fleet of ATVs. The founders decided to do something radical: bring the competition downtown, close the streets and dump in hundreds of cubic yards of snow. The first year drew curiosity. The next year drew spectators. Soon, it became a phenomenon. 

Today, Extreme Skijor is one of Wallace’s busiest weekends of the year, filling hotels, packing restaurants, and turning the quiet town into a shoulder-to-shoulder winter celebration. Families come for the sledding hill and kids’ zone. Adventurers come for the ice bar and nightlife. Riders come to push their limits in a competition unlike any they have encountered before. As Ski Wallace president Siobhan Curet puts it, “This event is for everyone: families, locals, pros and the brave souls who want to send it harder than they ever have. You’ve got to experience it for yourself.” 

Friday Night Lights: The Rail Jam 

This year’s festival kicks off Friday night, Feb. 13, with the rail jam, an event that has earned a reputation all its own. Under the glow of downtown lights, skiers and snowboarders drop into a rail garden built right in the middle of Cedar Street. The setup includes a mellow rainbow rail, a long kink rail, a user-friendly flat rail and a 20-foot fun box. But the showstopper for 2026? A fully repurposed Ford Pinto race car acting as a massive jib feature. 

Riders throw spins, presses, taps and transfers while crowds cheer from the barricades. Creativity and style score big here. Winners walk away with medals, cash and a healthy boost of hometown glory. 

Engineering a Downtown Terrain Park Overnight 

Once the rail jam wraps, the real work begins. An excavator, a loader, a snowcat, and a hand crew take over Cedar Street, reshaping it into a slopestyle course capable of hosting X-Games-caliber tricks. By morning, the transformation is complete. 

The signature format is simple—a tracked ATV tows riders at highway-offramp speed into a 30-foot money booter, sending them skyward. The landing flows straight into the rail garden, where judges are ready to score amplitude, trick difficulty, clean landings, technical rail execution and overall showmanship. It’s controlled chaos; the kind spectators love. Qualifiers run Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and finals launch Sunday at 1 p.m. 

Big Mountain Talent Meets Urban Mayhem 

Wallace Extreme Skijor has quickly become a stage where freeriders, freestyle skiers and snowboarders can show off their full skill set. Big-mountain athletes often arrive with the biggest airs of the weekend, applying their backcountry send-mentality to an urban park environment. Meanwhile, dedicated jib athletes clean up on the rails with tech-heavy tricks that make the crowd erupt. Corks. Switch 540s. Double flips. Disaster transfers. And, of course, the wipeouts, which sometimes earn just as much applause as the podium runs. Extreme Skijor offers multiple categories: youth (rail jam only), women, skier and snowboarder. There’s no age limit beyond the ability to hit the course safely.  

A Weekend That Fuels a Town 

Beyond the snow and spectacle, this event is an economic powerhouse. Wallace sees its winter population swell dramatically as spectators flood into bars, shops and restaurants. Lodging fills up months in advance. Locals plan their winter around it. Extreme Skijor reflects the attitude of the Silver Valley itself: scrappy, creative and always willing to build something wild if it means a good time. 

Why Athletes Should Add Wallace to Their Competition Calendar 

For high-end competitors used to the touring circuit, the Wallace Extreme Skijor offers a unique hybrid format; it’s part freeride, part slopestyle and part urban rail jam, with crowds lining the course and a festival atmosphere. Athletes compete to win big-air, best trick, rail-jam and crowd-favorite cash bonuses, all in a tight, supportive, rowdy atmosphere unlike anything else in the Northwest. 

It’s the rare event where a backcountry charger can throw down alongside a terrain-park technician and both walk away heroes. If you’re a rider looking for a challenge, an audience and a reason to push yourself harder than you have all season, Wallace wants you here! 

A Winter Tradition That Keeps Growing 

In its eighth year, Extreme Skijor has become more than a festival, more than a competition and more than a weekend party. It is a celebration of winter, creativity, small-town energy and the pure joy of watching talented athletes do outrageous things on snow. And in the heart of it all stands a two-block stretch of downtown Wallace, proving that sometimes the wildest terrain isn’t found on a mountain. It’s found right on Main Street. 

Extreme Skijor is organized by Ski Wallace! Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting winter activities in Wallace, Idaho. Funding for the event is made possible through generous donations and fundraising events. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, volunteering or exploring our other events, visit Skiwallace.com. (Article provided by Ski Wallace) 

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A few local powder chasers share what it’s like to travel for turns during the Inland Northwest summer months. The short answer? Pure magic. Here are their stories and a few tips on how to plan your own trip.  

Chasing Powder and Good Vibes in Chile and Argentina 

By T. Ghezzi  

 Chile, Argentina, the Andes Mountains, a rental truck, 1,800 miles of driving, four friends, eight different resorts, 15 days of riding, countless Royal Guards, asado, chimichurri, cactus, donkeys, woodfire stoves, DEEP pow, empanadas, snow parakeets, steep T-bars, lengthy pommel lifts, hot springs, foxes, sopapillas, active volcanoes, vibrant music, border crossings, and so much more.  

The vision of the trip was to chase powder all year round, ride new resorts, and soak in the culture and “buena onda” or “good vibes” wherever we went. 

  Leaving Spokane and flying into Santiago, Chile, in August 2024, the trip kicked off fast as we scooped up the rental truck, tossed our gear in the back, and headed northeast to stay in Los Andes. After spending a few days in the Andes Mountains east of Santiago, we cruised south to the Chilean mountain town of Las Trancas. Leaving Chile, we dropped southeast into Argentina and did some cat skiing. We then rented a house in the super cool lakeside town of Bariloche before drifting back west into Chile, exploring more resorts and ending in Puerto Montt for our return flight home 17 days later. 

  The first day on snow was a cat skiing trip with Ski Arpa. The operation is located two hours northeast of Santiago. The snow was horribly memorable, but our guides did their best to get us the goods. Thankfully, we did find pockets of soft snow later in the day as it warmed up. The biggest eye-opener was that the cat had no cabin or seats! Metal railings like a pen kept us “safe” as we stood in the elements, holding tight so we wouldn’t slide around once the cat started climbing up the steep terrain.  

  The next part of our trip led us to Tres Valles and we got skunked. With no new snow, flat light, and death ice, we explored the resort of La Parva. Storm tracking and intel from local guides had us eagerly opting to leave two days early to chase snow five hours south at Nevados de Chillán (and we scored big). The highlights of this part of the adventure were ripping runs with pro surfer Ivan Florence, mid-lodge beers, the sunset looking over the Santiago, dinner with Ivan and Alex Florence and catching lunch with Chilean pro snowboarder and backcountry guide JP Audisio, where I got to learn first-hand how he made his way to Stevens Pass and the Pacific Northwest. 

  Pivoting south to Nevados De Chillán was the right move. We stayed in the little mountain town of Las Trancas. I loved it there, as the vibe reminded me of a bigger Glacier, Wash. The night we arrived, Nevados De Chillán got dumped on and it continued through the next day, totaling more than two feet of cold smoke pow in just over 24 hours. The two days we rode there were insanely epic, and it would not have happened without our friend and local guide Sebastian. 

  In Argentina, we started off by staying at the bougie backcountry lodge of Baguales. The inclusive cat skiing operation is located in the northern region of Patagonia, and, because of its price and remoteness, we basically had everything to ourselves. We experienced all kinds of terrain with prime snow conditions. With no more than five of us in the cat, we were burning laps. In two days, we had 20 bumps in the cat and would have gotten even more runs if the second day didn’t start off with a wind and snow delay. 

  The laid-back vibe of Bariloche and quick access to Cerro Catedral made it easy to settle in for a week. La Laguna is a zone at Cerro Catedral that will forever live in my memory. It was a bluebird day when we hiked into this backcountry area. The giant amphitheater-shaped bowl surrounded us, and its towering rock spires seemed to fill the air with magic. Looking from below, I picked my line and boot packed to the rocky ridge above.  

The view from the sketchy ridge was next-level, providing a full panorama of Lake Nahuel Huapi and across the valley to the east. The terrain looked gnarly, with unrelentingly steep chutes slicing all the way down to the narrow valley below. Strapping in, I cautiously executed my first few turns before alternating my lane choice. Threading the needle of a rock section, I aimed for a sweet, wind-loaded drop that spit me out into the apron.  

  I must shout out to my travel friends—snowboarders Carl Montoya, Ashleigh Montoya, and Travis Knoop, from Wenatchee, Wash.—because this trip couldn’t have happened without them! For a deeper dive of the trip, please check out the Wild Cannons podcast, Episode 7 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube.  

T. Ghezzi has been writing snowboard articles for Out There since 2018. Keep up with his adventures on Instagram @northwest_raised and @wildcannons 

The post WHEN YOU CAN’T WAIT FOR WINTER  appeared first on Out There Venture.

Cover photo courtesy of WDFW

This past spring I got to accompany a wolf biologist as he was attempting to collar a wolf in a pack in Northeast Washington. This pack already had a collared pack member, but that collar was malfunctioning, so using the data already collected he set forth to capture another wolf in the pack. During our windshield time we got to swapping stories of wildlife work, backcountry trip leading, and I got to pepper the bio with questions about working with a species of wildlife that—perhaps more than any other in North America—raises the hackles of some and is elevated above all by others. I came to realize that when working with such a contentious, elusive, complex, and endearing species, one must perfect a kind of art along with knowing the science. 

Know Thy Wolf 

To be an effective wildlife biologist, you must know the habits of the animals you study. Wolves are highly social animals that are wary of people. They can range widely in a day, and, if a wolf is a disperser (not associated with a pack), they can travel miles looking for another pack or a mate. In Washington, the average pack size is 4.4 with territories of around 257.7 square miles, but pack size and territories change over time. Washington’s wolves also can and do disperse outside the state. In 2024, seven wolves made their way to British Columbia and Idaho. Biologists use a lot of this information to determine where the animals’ denning and rendezvous sites are. These are the areas where the wolves will return to frequently, and, if there are pups about, they will be bringing food back. These are also great places to set camera traps and areas to try to trap wolves to attach a tracking collar.  

To understand wolf populations, biologists look at multi-year trends and use winter pack surveys, known dispersals, tribal hunting reports, poaching reports, natural deaths (from other wolves or cougars), and add a conservative percentage to account for unknown individuals. Up until last year, there has been an average of 20 percent increase in the wolf populations. Pup survival averages just 25 percent. This is in part why population surveys are done in winter, counting pups that survived from the spring and are likely to become adults. At this time, poaching of wolves dispersing to Washington’s Southern Cascades is the main limiting factor keeping pack establishment in that recovery zone and delaying delisting of wolves from the state endangered species list. 

Tracking and Trapping 

How do you know you are looking at a wolf track? Wolves have big feet—3 ½ to 4 inches. There are some livestock guardian dogs that can have similarly-sized feet, but typically wolf tracks are much larger than your average pet dog. Wolves travel long distances, and they do it efficiently. Their tracks are straight and rarely deviate. Dogs, on the other hand, will zigzag, sniff, and mark anything and everything. Stride length is the last sign that can help determine if it is a dog or a wolf. A wolf will have a stride of 24 to 38 inches when walking. That stride can be up to 6 to 8 feet when running. Accounting for stride length, pad size, and a straight track, a seasoned tracker can be confident in identification. 

The innate behavior of wolves determines how you can trap them. They will not cross a road to investigate a scent. They will take the insides of a corner, because that is the most efficient path. Wolves try to be quiet roaming the woods, so they won’t step on sticks when investigating a scent. All of these considerations must be taken into account for success when setting traps for research and monitoring. 

Wolf Medicine in the Field 

A wolf biologist also needs to know the baseline vitals for these animals. Wild animals generally run hotter than their domestic counterparts, and, when humans are handling them, they can become very stressed. The wolf we worked with had a pulse oxygen monitor attached to its tongue and regular temperatures were taken. Often the tranquilizer drugs used have multiple effects, including lowering heart rate and changing blood pressure.  

There have been a variety of different medications used on wildlife to immobilize them over the years. Some of these are controlled substances and have the potential for abuse (think ketamine). States also have different laws on how these drugs are stored, administered and licensed. When I was knocking out porcupines in New Mexico early in my career, a licensed vet had to administer the drugs. A wolf biologist has to know the correct dosage, how to load the needle or dart, and where to administer it.  

Talking Wolves to People 

Finally, a wolf biologist, along with others that work with large predators, needs to be diplomatic when they work with the public. Ranchers work on thin margins and care for the well-being of their animals—more so than just their financial worth—so any additional impacts can create emotional reactions. Similarly, on the other end of the wolf love-hate spectrum, there are those who think wolves have more importance in the ecosystem than any other species. Their notion of wildness and their resemblance to our family dogs can elicit strong feelings from others. It is hard to have a nuanced conversation about wolves on the landscape, because the opposing sides are so loud, but that is precisely a wolf biologist’s job. 

There may seem to be many glamorous aspects of being a wolf biologist—handling large predators, cruising the woods looking for tracks and hanging out of helicopters for winter surveys. But there is also the building of nuanced knowledge that can take years, and the ability to navigate the political and emotional nature of working with predators and the public. 

Adam Gebauer is excited to get back on his bike as the weather cools. He also is totally, absolutely sure he will do some training for ski season this year. 

The post The Art of Being a Wolf Biologist: Science, Patience, and Empathy in Washington’s Wolf Country appeared first on Out There Venture.

Cover photo courtesy of Jean Arthur

Sunrise promises a sparkling midsummer morning at 6,644 feet elevation at the summit of Going-to-the-Sun Road at Logan Pass. A dozen vehicles snug into parking spots on an August morning as hikers lace boots for early starts on Glacier National Park’s famous Highline Trail. My family plans to hike another popular trail from the parking lot at Logan Pass, the Hidden Lake Trail to Hidden Lake Overlook, a 2.7-mile climb among wildflowers, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, ermine and the occasional grizzly bear. 

We know from experience that the parking lot—all 236 spots—fills by 8 a.m. on July and August mornings. Until about 7 p.m., drivers will troll the parking lot to find a spot, testing patience and pleasantries. Occasionally arguments break out and rangers must intervene.  

The bustle begs the question: Are we loving our national parks to death? Between resource depletion, crushing roadway overuse, damaging pollution, and resource defilement due to garbage, trampling and theft, park lovers are demanding changes. 

Rangers and park staff can barely keep pace. Since the beginning of 2025, permanent park staff positions decreased by 24% for all parks according to the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. In Grand Teton National Park, the Trump administration’s budget cuts eliminated 16 of the park’s 17 supervisory positions. 

Glacier, which is America’s 10^th national park and spans 1.2 million acres in northwest Montana, has experienced explosive visitor numbers in the past decade, as have other public lands, challenging the resources, park staff and visitor restraint. 

I have frequented Glacier National Park for five decades. My group and I hit the park early to try to beat the new summer crowds. Tailgate coffee, locally grown fruit and prebaked muffins entice our sleepy crew out of warm vehicles to our truck where my husband cranks up the camp stove and makes a couple of bistro’s worth of coffee. To my family, this morning is reminiscent of two decades ago when there was available parking, room to hike without crowding and lots of wildlife.  

We lock up leftovers and head up the paved trail that climbs to a boardwalk, then dirt, and then a snow-covered route with just a few other humans. Brilliant pink heather hugs the ground. The higher we climb, the more glacier lilies—yellow sprites of the high country—shiver in the breeze. A sizable herd of bighorn sheep skitter across rocks then settle for naps with their lambs.  

With so few boots on turf this morning, it’s hard to imagine the significant increase in visitation that Glacier has endured. In 2024, more than 3.2 million people entered Glacier, its third-highest visitation year ever and an increase of 300,000 visitors from 2023.  

Glacier’s 40 percent increase in visitation from 2012 to 2024 is not an anomaly. According to Zion National Park Superintendent, Jeff Bradybaugh, in a letter to Congress, “There are 423 park units in the National Park System encompassing over 85 million acres across our nation, but visitation trends among the individual parks greatly vary. In 2020, overall visitation dropped to a 40-year low due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.” And then spiked. 

In his statement titled, “Lessons from the Field: Overcrowding in National Parks,” Bradybaugh notes that a third of the national parks saw record visitation during the pandemic as people sought outdoor spaces. In 2021, visitation across all NPS units reached 297 million recreation visits, a year when Utah’s Zion National Park alone saw 5 million visitors for the first time in its history and double the number from 2010. Some mitigation efforts are working. Several parks now use timed entry and ticket systems, including Glacier, which piloted vehicle reservation systems for summer months. Because my crew and I visit Glacier often, we know to use Recreation.gov to purchase a park pass and a Going-to-the-Sun Road ticket.  

On our glorious August morning, the road remained quiet at predawn; we only encountered a pair of motorcyclists who cruised the Sun Road to Logan Pass. But by the time we hiked up to the Hidden Lake Overlook, snapped a few photos and walked back, the parking lot was full and the trail overworked.  

“Pack your patience and plan ahead,” reads Glacier National Park’s webpage, “Tips for Dealing with Crowds.” We’ve also packed out other people’s candy wrappers, broken sunglasses and bad attitudes—a visitor aggressively urged us to rush so they could have our parking spot. We left feeling squeezed and a bit Grinchy about sharing our favorite park.  

For national park gateway communities, the tourism boils down to dollars. According to economists at the University of Montana in Missoula, annual nonresident spending in the state totaled $5.82 billion, a two-year average for annual spending. The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research found that the region surrounding Glacier saw $2 billion in revenue, while the region surrounding Yellowstone averaged $1.3 billion. Yellowstone’s borders also include Idaho and Wyoming. The two Montana regions collectively saw 57% of nonresident travel spending.  

Oregon park visitor Barbara Nelson and her husband encountered long waits when they entered the park’s west gate at West Glacier this summer, even though they had booked tickets for the road and activities in advance. This was not their first park visit, and they’ve witnessed growing wait times at entrance stations, parking lots, trail heads and concession restaurants. 

“We got stopped in the hot sun and felt crowded,” Nelson recalls. “That morning, we started about 9 or 10 a.m. from West Glacier. A busy, August day. Getting behind those red buses is annoying. We got stopped at [the] top of [the] pass and there was still snow. So we had a snowball fight as we were waiting in traffic.” 

The Red Busses offer interpretive tours on Going-to-the-Sun Road. Free shuttles between Apgar near the west entrance and St. Mary at the east entrance alleviate some vehicle traffic, but hour-long standstills still occur, and not always where snowball fights can ensue. There are just many people who want the Glacier experience—including my crew. The park is on pace for another record-breaking summer as of early August 2025, with early counts showing a sizeable increase of more than 12 percent over 2024.  

Overtourism is defined as the phenomenon whereby certain places of interest are visited by excessive numbers of tourists, causing undesirable effects for the places visited. The global nonprofit Responsible Tourism offers a platform for change, helping travelers and communities take responsibility for making tourism more sustainable.  

Locals grasp at reasons for overtourism: short-term rentals alluring and available which push out long-term renters, post-pandemic need for healthy outdoor travel, alluring Instagram images sans mega throbs of tourists, and the Yellowstone Effect, in which people watch Kevin Costner’s television drama “Yellowstone” and visit Montana, Wyoming and Idaho believing a fictional tale of the American West—and wanting a piece of it.  

The “Yellowstone Effect” brought 2.1 million visitors to Montana in 2021, according to the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Fans spent $730 million, yet caused some locals to channel Beth Dutton and mean-mug away visitors—it didn’t work. 

The Tourons of Yellowstone Instagram page, dedicated to documenting bad behavior and egregious offenses, stir up locals’ ire too. The Tourons videos often involve humans (and sometimes their pets) getting too close to wildlife in parks or illegally traipsing near Yellowstone’s extremely hot and fragile hot spring features—and sometimes not surviving. 

Thoughtless visitors trample delicate flora, leave trash and feces, and cause congestion and environmental degradation also felt in housing and infrastructure. Instagrammers sometimes position themselves in precariously dangerous spots for the glory, monetizing the public places. My family witnessed a woman who waded through a swift stream below a waterfall for her ego-driven photo taken by an accomplice. Other visitors, who had to wait 20 minutes for an Instagrammer-free view, did not wish her well.  

The organization Responsible Tourism writes on their website that tourism has breached a tipping point: Hosts and guests are often dissatisfied. “The challenge is to make all destinations sustainable and to avoid spreading the problem. For local government and protected area managers, the key question is: Will the destination use tourism or be used by it?” 

Gateway communities are trying to help visitors find their inner angels. In Jackson, Wyoming, the tourism board adopted a “selfie control” campaign after many tourists got too close to wildlife. Jackson’s “Take care of what takes your breath away” includes signage, advertising and smiling reminders from locals. Bozeman, Montana’s “Becoming Outside Kind” campaign encourages trail etiquette by educating new and longtime residents about how to behave outside. Whitefish, Montana created the “Be a Friend of The Fish” campaign to promote visitor stewardship.  

As Responsible Tourism notes, a global backlash to overtourism and bad behavior has resulted in violence. Protestors in Barcelona, Spain attacked tourists with water guns and called for visitor-accommodation restrictions. Protests against mass tourism and gentrification in Mexico City turned violent, damaging storefronts. Venice banned cruise ships from the city center and instituted a tourist tax. Some cities and attractions now limit the number of visitors, such as Bruges, Belgium, which capped the number of cruise ship arrivals and instead encouraged daytrippers. Solutions remain elusive. 

Summer 2025 saw particularly challenging crowding in Glacier, in part because the much-loved Many Glacier Valley, with its lodge, lakes, campgrounds and trails, underwent extensive utilities reconstruction. Limited parking forced limited access.  

The reward for patience, however, includes spectacular views, cool evenings with remarkable sunsets, and incomparable trails. My crew will wait to camp and hike during the slower season, late September, to avoid the crowds and try to be good stewards of our favorite park. 

Jean Arthur hikes and bikes and boats on public lands and waterways with family, friends and dogs. This fall, she’s picking huckleberries after the early frost sweetens up the hucks and the hues of the backcountry.  

The post Loving a Place to Death: How Overcrowding is Transforming Glacier National Park appeared first on Out There Venture.

Only a short distance from Bellingham, Wash., a glaciated volcano called Mt. Baker rises from the Earth. Known as Koma Kulshan by the Lummi people, a.k.a. “Great White Watcher,” the mountain and its snow-capped peak can be spotted from various points in the city and surrounding Whatcom County, but there’s nothing quite like a trip to Mt. Baker to understand why its beauty has captured the imaginations of people since time immemorial.  

Regardless of the season, Mt. Baker offers astounding views, world-class recreation, and an escape from the daily hustle and bustle. The mountain makes for a great road trip destination in part because of its proximity to Bellingham, a lively college town offering incredible dining, entertainment, and its own selection of world-class recreation. Begin in Bellingham and make your way east toward the mountain on Mount Baker Highway—one of Washington’s designated scenic byways—a stunning adventure in and of itself. 

If you’re planning a visit during the colder months, the Mount Baker Ski Area gets some of the most snowfall in the world and consistently ranks among the most affordable resorts in the country. Rugged mountains, incredible 360-degree views, and challenging terrain make it a snowsports paradise for skiers and snowboarders alike.  

For a gentler winter vacation, the area is also great for sledding, snowshoeing, or just building a snowman with the family. When you’re ready to feel cozy and sip a cup of cocoa, book a cabin or mountain chalet with Luxury Getaways. Many of their rentals come with hot tubs and fireplaces, perfect for warming up on a chilly winter evening. If you visit on a clear night, you’ll also likely catch an incredible view of the night sky.  

You can also find other lodging options near the mountain, including hotels, bed and breakfasts, campgrounds, and RV sites. Mt. Baker RV Park & Campground is a great option for those travelling with a camper. They offer RV sites as well as tent camping, hot showers, laundry, and wi-fi at every site. They’re open for year-round adventures and even offer monthly stays, a great option for dedicated skiers planning to spend a solid slice of winter on the mountain.  

In the summer, the mountain sheds its lower-elevation snow and becomes a haven for hikers of all skill levels. At the end of Mount Baker Highway, you’ll find Artist Point, a stunning area that serves as a nexus of alpine trailheads as well as an ideal place for families to snap photos, eat lunch, and stretch their legs. Choose from multi-night backcountry trips, steep and rugged treks into the alpine, or flat, mellow trails perfect for all ability levels. Don’t forget to visit Picture Lake, one of the most photographed scenes in the world.  

In warmer months, the highway also attracts road cyclists in search of a thigh-busting ride and unforgettable views. Each year, the Mount Baker Hill Climb takes place in September and challenges participants to scale 4,000 feet of elevation as they race toward Artist Point.  

When it comes to amenities, the closest town to the mountain is Glacier, located right on the highway and offering a modest selection of restaurants, services, and lodging options. For breakfast or lunch, try Wake ‘n’ Bakery in Deming. They offer certified organic and fair-trade coffee as well as handmade baked goods and meal items to help sustain your energy during adventures. 

Be sure to visit the Glacier Public Service Center for essential trail information, maps, permits, Northwest Forest Passes (needed for parking at Forest Service trailheads), and a bathroom break before you enter the wilderness.  

Before you get to Glacier, on the way out from Bellingham, you’ll pass North Fork Brewery & Pizzeria in Deming, a great place to refuel after a long day of fun on the mountain. Enjoy barrel-aged Belgian style sours and lagers, a selection of steaming hot pizzas, or a bowl of stout French onion soup.  

If you’re staying the night in Bellingham—or beginning or ending your mountain adventure with a couple of nights in town—be sure to check out the area’s cultural attractions. Prioritize visiting the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention, featuring one of the largest Tesla coils in the world and one of three remaining incandescent lamps created by Thomas Edison. The Whatcom Museum is another must-visit cultural destination featuring contemporary and Coast Salish art, history, and more.  

For accommodations, Bellingham and Whatcom County are home to a variety of lodging options, from waterside resorts to historic B&Bs to budget-friendly hotels. There are even hotels within walking distance of the Bellingham International Airport or the Amtrak station, allowing for a seamless mountain vacation no matter where you’re coming from.  

Learn more about Bellingham and Whatcom County at Bellingham.org.   

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The post Adventure—or Relax—on a Road Trip to Stunning Mt. Baker   appeared first on Out There Venture.