Trails/Reports

Our ‘home trails’, including Razor Hone and White Salmon, are at the Salmon Ridge SnoPark, about 47 miles up the Mt. Baker Highway from Bellingham.

Make sure that you have the right permit:

*Have you been wondering about the pictures at the top of the web page?

Backcountry @ Mt. Baker – The Ski to Sea race (held in May) has a cross-country leg which is held at the Mt. Baker downhill ski area.  As the mountain closes for downhill skiing in the spring, they groom a cross-country trail for skiers to practice on before the race.  It’s an awesome time to go ski up in the mountains/sunshine with skinny skis. And it’s free. Put it on your calendar! There are also multiple places to ski with back-country skis off to the sides of the ski area.  But be avalanche aware.

Cougar Loop Bridge – Many Bellingham skiers start off skiing the Razor Hone trail.  It’s a relatively flat, out-and-back trail taking you to the banks of the North Fork of the Nooksack River.  As you go out, you will see a branch of the trail angling off uphill to the right, named Cougar Loop.  Looking at the map, you will see that it makes a loop, coming back to the main trail.  The Cougar Loop Bridge is near the top of this loop. The near (first) leg is a significant uphill ski, but quite do-able. The far (East) leg is fairly steep! I will sometimes ski up the far leg and back the near leg.  Often I go up and back on the near leg.  I don’t normally ski down the far leg!)  It’s 2.7 km from the parking lot to the first turn-off, then another 1.7 km to the bridge. (That’s a 5.4 mile round trip from the parking lot – a nice ski!)

Ski Callaghan – When it comes down to it, some of the best skiing for Bellinghamsters is in Canada.  Ski Callaghan is an ‘old-school’ cross-country area next to the Whistler Olympic Park, north of Vancouver.  Watch the weather; when it’s sunny, go for it! They can have excellent snow and exceptional grooming!  (And you can find reasonably priced accommodations in Squamish.

Razor Hone Creek – this picture was taken of the creek from the Cougar Loop Bridge over Bagley Creek.  A nice destination to aim for.