Mt. Baker is famous for a few things: deep snow, rowdy terrain, and wet weather. I moved up here for the season, and it’s been a lesson in avoiding trenchfoot, not destroying gear, and drying out gloves without unwittingly turning my house into a sauna. A good friend of mine—also new up here—has been experimenting with sleeping in her trailer in the parking lot over the weekends. Whenever it comes up, Baker veterans are quick to inquire about her drying system—a necessity in a small space with such wet conditions. Coming from Utah and Idaho, she hadn’t put much thought into it. Needless to say, her nights spent in the parking lot are soggy and humid.
Skiing or riding in the rain (or in heavy, wet snow) calls for a different set of skills and a different approach to your gear. Here’s what I’ve learned.
1. Start with the right gear.
In seriously wet conditions, 3-layer GoreTex® (or a comparable 3-layer waterproof fabric) is an absolute must. Outerwear that will do you proud throughout a Utah or Colorado winter may not be up for the challenges of a constant downpour. For instance, the Patagonia Snowshot Jacket, made of H2No® Performance Standard 2-layer polyester micro-twill weave, might be an awesome jacket for a drier climate but won’t hold in the Pacific Northwest. The Powslayer, made of 3-layer GoreTex®, will hold up against a rainstorm.
2. Take care of said gear.
Wash your waterproof clothing and refresh your DWR coating every few years. Dirty GoreTex® and worn-out DWR means your outerwear will absorb more water, be less breathable, and consequently be more susceptible to interior condensation. Old leather gloves sop up water like a towel, but with a fresh coat of Sno-Seal (an excellent beeswax-based waterproofing solution), they’ll hold out past lunch. Dry your goggles out religiously, every night (if you don’t, they’ll fog between the lenses).
3. Bring extras.
No matter how bomber your gear, gloves get soaked, goggles get foggy, and face masks get crusty with snow, ice, and snot after a few hours in the elements. For me, the key to skiing a full day in inclement weather is bringing backup. Swapping out sopping gloves at lunch makes a huge difference, as do a fresh pair of goggles and a warm, dry buff.
4. Set up a proper drying rack at home, and consider springing for a boot dryer.
When gloves, boots, and even helmets get properly saturated, a night in a dry house isn’t always enough to dry them out. Set up a rack near a wall heater or lay your gloves over a floor vent. Boot dryers are an additional expense (typically between $20 and $40), but they make a world of difference. Pulling your liners out of your boots or leaving them unbuckled overnight can help them dry more quickly as well. (Note that leaving boots unbuckled is usually a bad idea, as storing boots buckled helps them maintain their shape.)
5. Don’t let goggles get any wetter than they have to.
Waiting in a long line for first chair? Keep your goggles tucked away. If the foam gets saturated, the goggles will start to fog—and won’t stop until they’ve completely dried out. When it’s nuking, I keep my goggles on my face (where they’re protected by the brim of my helmet) or tucked inside my jacket—never propped up on my helmet.
6. Avoid hats.
Not entirely, of course, but if you’re choosing between skiing in a helmet or a hat, a helmet will protect your goggles and your noggin from the elements. Hats soak up water, hard plastic doesn’t.
7. Be smart about your baselayers.
When it’s really wet out, everything—from your midlayer to your long johns—will get at least a little wet. Skip the sweatshirt, cotton long-sleeve, or flannel in favor of wool or synthetics that dry quickly and keep you warm even when they’re wet. Save the cotton for sunny high-pressure laps.
8. Keep your wits about you.
Wet, heavy snow is unpredictable and often comes with low visibility. Rein it in and stay in control. Warm storms affect different aspects in dramatically different ways, and the compression at the base of that steep run might be home to crazy heavy snow that can stop you in your tracks and send you over the handlebars.
9. Get out there!
Plenty of skiers turn back at the sight of rain, but a lifetime of Pacific Northwest skiing has taught me there’s fun to be had, even when it’s drizzling (or downpouring). Suit up, wear a garbage bag over your gear if you have to, and set out into the mess. Slushy, soft turns await.
Photo by Amanda Monthei.
First rate advice. Also suggest inner fleece glove w outer breathable shell. Among extras, dry socks to swap mid-day…ahhhh.
Some excellent advice, here. With all due respect, though, there’s snow on the trees and big flakes falling in front of her body. That passes for powder in the PNW. Black trees and dark skies mean RAIN. And she is right about everything getting wet, even if you’re wearing Helly rubberized workwear.If it’s REALLY pissing out, I’ve had good luck wearing a light SHELLED fleece underneath a triple layer Gore-Tex jacket. (This really only works for lift skiing, the inner shell will not allow precipitation out). The inner shell might get damp but won’t penetrate through to the fleece. And all you need is a super-thin merino base layer (sorry, synthetics are so DONE!).
“Wash your waterproof clothing and refresh your DWR coating every few years”…
No, no, no. Don’t wait that long – wash your Gore-tex every 10-15 days!
It’s easy and it’ll work better – check this out:https://player.vimeo.com/video/53191284?autoplay=1
Right you are, Tom.
Agreed, per Gortex and Arc’teryx, just about all water leakage in a Gortex jacket is due to body oils, pollen, and small particles in the fabric, I wash my Gortex every two weeks and dry it in a hot dryer.
Because there’s not much PNWers love more than talking about how to deal with inclement weather, some additions to an already strong list:
Rain pants cut into rain shorts to fit over Gore-tex for the chair rides, because even Gore-tex has a limit. (Shorts for some semblance of breathability. Also, you look way stylish.)
Do not merely consider a boot dryer, simply always, always have one. Or five.
If two pairs of gloves is good, seventeen is better.
ALWAYS have dry clothing in the car.
Rained on snow is butter-smooth. Maybe sticky, maybe not, but butter-smooth.
Reread number 9, over, and over, and over, and over, like the plastic parsley in the old Alaska Airlines commercial.
All of these things! I learned about rain shorts from patrollers at Baker while bumping chairs. I’d characterise the “breathability” as “water pouring out the bottom”, but that’s just me. Also, my boss could tell if I was at work based on how many glerves were on the rack above the propane heater. 16, I was. 2, I was not.
Great Work, will definitely help in skiing.Wet Skiing is quite dangerous and the tips you have provided are quite helpful.I have done wet skiing couple of times but I failed but now I think that following your tips will help me in many ways and I will succeed.
This post would have been much more valuable
Nothing like some tasty powder-slush !!
OMG, yes. I will add to this list what I learned from a Patroller on a chairlift ride in a downpour at Crystal: fleece-lined rubber gloves. Find ’em at any hardware store, and leave all expensive gloves (and even your Sno-Sealed Kinco’s) at home. Amazing little hack. Don’t worry; if it’s raining the fleece lining will be all you need to keep your fingers warm.
YES! I have started using Japanese cold-weather fishing gloves (rubber with liner) while wet skiing and ice climbing in wet conditions. It is so amazing to have dry hands while ripping skins, digging a pit, or even just making a snowball. Plus, the dexterity can be so much better than what you’d expect!
A good Camp of Champions summer camp trick for drying wet boots.
Stuff as much balled up newspaper into your boots as you can get. Crank your boots tight. Hang boots upside down. The newspaper will pull all the moisture out of the boots. Next morning chuck the paper. Oh wait. What’s a newspaper? What’s a summer ski camp?
Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.
What is this thing you call “newspaper”?
I have to disagree on one point in this article – snowseal (or the similar stuff that Hestra gloves comes with) is awesome at preserving leather and wetproofing gloves, BUT I’ve discovered that it leaves a waxy residue on Gore-Tex pants, destroying the DWR (and there is no hope at getting it back). I laid out some big $$ two years ago on some new Arcteryx Bibs and I was damned if I as going to ruin them like I had my previous pants, which wetted out frequently (and no, multiple washes & re-applying DWR didn’t help).
My solution – I now use a DWR application on my gloves instead of snowseal. (Specifically, I use the ReviveX Nu spray, which was developed in partnership with Arcteryx). That has made a dramatic difference, and the DWR on my spendy ski pants has stayed intact.
Thank you for this very beneficial blog! Keep up the good work.