Imagine shredding Mount Baker with fresh powder every day, on any K2 ski you want with legendary athletes like Pep Fujas, Shane McConkey, PK Hunder and Sean Petit by your side. Now, make it even better by having that mountain for only 300 of you. Sound to good to be true? Wait, it gets better. Every meal is provided, free booze flows like water, parties rage until the wee hours of the morning, mechanical bulls dance, dj’s spin, skateboards shred a mini pipe. To top it all off, you’re given a brand new pair of limited edition K2 Extreme’s FOR FREE! Are you dreaming? Nope, you’re at Kamp K2.
In case you’re still in the dark, let me spill it out for you. This past week, the lovely folks at K2 Skis lit the torch on the 1st ever Kamp K2. A 3 night excursion at the legendary Mount Baker in Washington. K2 rented out Mount Baker and invited 300 of their closest friends to join them in what would become one of the biggest parties of the season.
Upon arrival you got your pick of a limited edition pair of 2008 K2 Extreme’s or a snowboard. Holy shit. K2, you just found your way onto my Christmas card list.
So, here’s the deal. Everyone flies into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday and is shuttled up to Mount Baker. Most folks chose to rent themselves an RV from Cruise America and camp out in the parking lot of Mount Baker while I on the other hand (being a last minute fill in for this trip) opted for the gigantic tent that K2 was erecting. Probably not the best choice seeing how it ended up snowing and staying well below freezing the entire time.
I should have opted for the RV. Here was my sleeping setup for the trip.
Another picture of the sleeping tent. Reminds me of a Red Cross shelter, just with more ski & snowboard equipment.
There were probably over 40 RV’s. Too many to fit inside one picture.
Anyway, after I was all checked in and had set up my sleeping arrangements inside the big top it was time to scope out some of the amenities that K2 was providing. Directly next to me was another massive tent filled with a stage, speakers up the ass, a mechanical bull, mini ramp, bar and beer pong tables. K2 threw parties from 3:00 PM > 2:00 AM every night. The kind folks at Pabst Blue Ribbon donated over 50 kegs for the 3 nights of festivities. There wasn’t a dry mouth or empty cup in the house.
After waking up the first morning by avalanche cannons at 7:00 AM I sprung out of bed and geared up for a day of the slopes. When I exited the tent I was greeted with almost a foot of Pacific Northwest powder, the day was going to be epic.
Baker has had over 700 inches of snow this season and it shows. I’ve never seen this much snow in my life.
I spent most of my time at Mount Baker poking around tight choke lines, ripping powder and trying to ski terrain that I never thought I would find in-bounds at any resort.
I didn’t even have to hike to ski gnarly terrain like this. The fact that it was coated in a foot of pow and I was on Obsethed’s meant it was begging to be torn apart.
Get as gnarly as you want, in-bounds.
Lunch break with PK Hunder and Sean Petit. Thanks for the FREE lunch K2!
After a hard day on the slopes many people retired to their RV’s or the tent for brief naps. Team challenges were going down the entire time, points were awarded for rail jams, beer pong tournaments, scavager hunts, banked slaloms, you name it there was an event and points being distributed. Some teams took things more seriously than others. Subsequently enough, there seemed to be a direct correlation between the teams that were drinking the most and getting the most points.
A K2 employee don’s his costume for one of the many theme parties that went down during the week. Please note the quad-banger funnel.
The entertainment tent had a sweet mini ramp that dozens of people were shredding.
McConkey isn’t scared to BASE jump, drop cliffs or be a maniac on skis. The only thing he’s scared of is monsters.
During the days I found myself taking complimentary backcountry and avalanche safety courses. Hell, I could use the knowledge and with Mount Baker seeing over 700 inches of snow this year the stability left much to be desired. That didn’t stop many folks armed with beacons, probes, packs and shovels from venturing off into the thousands of acres of adjacent backcountry.
20 minutes hiking off the top of the chair on a ridgeline and you could be shredding this. No, it isn’t AK. This is Washington.
Epic terrain lies right next to the lift.
I could go on and on and on about my time at Kamp K2. All you need to know is that it was one of the most amazing and unique overnight experiences ever. Major props to K2 for thinking outside the box and putting this event on.
A Kamp K2 group photo. C’mon, every camp has one.
Special thanks to K2, the amazingly friendly folks at Mount Baker (Gwen) and our fearless Kamp Counselor Mike Powell. That guy was on fire every waking minute of the day and should probably be placed in detox or some sort of mental institution after this event.
Mike Powell thanks his sponsor, PBR.
One more thing, the clouds and snow broke on our last night during dinner. Dozens of us were outside snapping away photos of the amazing view that was laid before us. This is Mount Shuskan and one of the most amazing views I have ever seen. It felt like I was on another planet.
Check out 52 photos from Kamp K2 in the gallery!
