Keeping it short and sweet—just like my time on my feet during the race
Words: Katie Kennedy
Photos: Tim Zimmerman & Tucker Adams
The annual Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom is always at the mercy of the weather. If the natty half pipe—the course—doesn’t fill in, there’s no race. Mt. Baker doesn’t make snow; Mother Nature is in charge. No snow, no race.
That’s exactly what happened in 2024, and it was heartbreaking. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and after a year-long gap, riders showed up to the 2025 LBS with even more froth and stoke in their hearts.
Baker and the PNW had a strong start to the season, but a dry spell in January worried riders. As race weekend approached, so did a cold storm. It dumped the weekend before—people claimed it was the deepest arm laps they’d ever done. With this fresh snow, the LBS course was a go. And to seal the deal, it snowed again on Wednesday before the race.
I flew in from Japan that day, and by Thursday, I was waking up to another Baker reset. Jet lag cure? Pow, friends, and salmon.
The race wasn’t just happening this year—the whole resort and sidecountry were firing. When people weren’t scraping their boards or spectating, they were lapping the arm or building hemi jumps. Everywhere you looked, riders were hiking and sending. It’s a good race weekend when you’re already tired from shredding pow.
The race brings out that friendly competition we all secretly love about snowboarding. You get two days and two runs to make it to finals. You wax and scrape your board like your life depends on it. You want your peers to do well—but if they fall, you’re not exactly bummed. And you’ve already come up with at least 10 excuses for why you didn’t go as fast as the others. "I shouldn't have hiked the Arm all morning—my legs were toast" was a common excuse. Mine was jet lag.
But at the end of the day, you’ve already won. You’re at Baker, surrounded by the legends of snowboarding.
Congratulations to Mary Rand & Harry Kearnery for taking home the pro division ducktape. Full final results here!
Some notable highlights from LBS 2025:
- Fastest Time Overall goes to Tucker Andrews at 1:08.67. It was his first time not racing in the pro division—he said he rode better without the pressure.
- Cannon Cummins dominated the first two days, but Harry Kearney won the overall game on this birthday and for the umpteenth time.
- Billie Pelchat also won the first two days, but Mary Rand took the final win—strategy in action.
- Chase Josey won the switch race and took 2nd in men’s.
- Jared Elston stomped a 360 over The Beast before finishing 6th in the finals.
- The brother rivalry continues: Hans beat Nils by .15 seconds.
-Tom Burt guided Devon Raney, a blind rider, through the course—Devon was ripping.
- So many babies and toddlers—36 years of riders now returning with their families. Future LBS champions are incoming.
- Baker’s former CEO and founder Duncan Howat was gifted a Mervin board and a new puffy. He gave a speech about the early days of snowboarding at Baker and claimed the return of the Toilet Bowl.
Baker was the first resort to allow snowboarding in the PNW. Snowboarding wouldn’t be where it is today without Baker and the Howat family. Cheers to 36 years of the LBS —and here’s to at least 36 more.