The 30th Legendary Mt Baker Banked Slalom brought Unreal riders and shred enthusiasts of all levels together for 4 days of Legendary snowboarding. Gnu and Mervin have decades of history at Mt Baker and the LBS. It takes graceful freeriding finesse, billygoat-like reflexes, and the eye of the tiger to win duct tape. Gnu riders claimed 2 of the top 3 pro men’s trophy’s, the top Amateur women spot, and grand masters gold, Pro-Masters men’s bronze, among others. Mathieu Crepel, in his second LBS appearance, took home the gold duct tape in pro mens on his Swallow Tail Carver. Temple Cummins added to his Pendleton blanket and duct tape collection with 3rd in pro mens on his Billy Goat snowboard. Wes Makepeace rode his Billy Goat to 3rd in men’s pro masters. Cannon Cummins won silver duct tape in Next Generation boys, Pete Saari won gold and a custom Rat tail with Jamie Lynn graphics on his Space Case and Isabella Gomez, at 14 years old, won Women’s amateur on her Velvet Gnuru. Rounding out the top 5 in pro women’s Maria Debari claimed another Pendleton blanket on her B-Pro.
Photos by George Crosland
Snow Moon
Matt, Cannon and Temple Cummins
Cannon Cummins
Temple Cummins
Maria Debari
Wes Makepeace
Jamie Lynn and Wes Makepeace aka Tityfish
Isabella Gomez
Mathieu Crepel
Mathieu Crepel
Mathieu Crepel
Lib rider, Tex Davenport was honored with the Craig Kelly award for his lifetime contribution to northwest snowboarding and his continued commitment to the life and values that shaped the Unreal scene at Mt Baker. If you ever get a chance to take a run with Tex at Baker, don’t pass it up, he’s what legends are made of! #unrealsnowboarding on unreal technology was a winning combination for Gnu and Mervin all weekend, congratulations Mt Baker for a successful 30 years of the Legendary Banked Slaloms.
Gnu Racer Results
Pro Mens:
1st – Mathieu Crepel – 1:42.77
3rd – Temple Cummins – 1:43.74
Pro Womens:
5th – Maria DeBari – 1:52.20
Womens Pro Master:
4th – Megan Pischke – 2:06.19
Grand Masters:
1st – Pete Saari – 2:18.40
Women’s Ams:
1st – Isabella Gomez – 2:16.88
Younger Ams:
5th – Jacob Krugmire – 2:13.94
Next Generation Boys:
2nd – Cannon Cummins – 2:19.23
Junior Boys:
4th – Keala Cole – 2:17.58
Mathieu Crepel Interview
Where do you come from?
From the country of wine, freedom fries and camembert!
Was this your first Baker Banked Slalom?
No I actually came twice to compete in the banked slalom as a junior, got 2nd the first year and won the 2nd in 2000!
The Baker Baked is a legendary event…you won over the worlds best; Terje, Temple, Nate Holland, Harry Kearny Lucas Debari and more…what did winning the Banked Slalom mean to you?
Well it was a dream since I won it as a junior but never got the chance to come back. The 30st anniversary was not to be missed! But I never thought I could win it this year, I haven’t been riding that much this season as I had an injured knee. So I didn’t have much pressure, that’s maybe why I was relaxed and let it flow down the course!
Your home resort is La Mongie in the Pyrenees. How does that compare to Mt. Baker?
Well it’s a lot different, a lot less trees, the slopes are more spread out but it’s really fun to ride. There are a lot of freeride runs easily accessible and it’s good to know them well to enjoy any good days. But I’ve always said that baker was in my top 3 resort to ride. The terrain is so fun, the vibe is great, I love it!
You won on the Unreal Gnu Future Retro Swallow tail…what did you like about that board as a race stick?
As soon as I saw there was a modern reedition of that board, I wanted to ride it. But I only got to try it once on a rainy day in hurricane ridge before the race. I had no clue how the board was gonna go in the banks, but the shape, the history, the graphics… made it really exciting to ride.
You also won the switch race with a backpack on? Was that on the swallow tail?
Yeah I was coming back up from the salmon bbq to get my backpack and Terje told me there was the switch race on. My friends were gone so I kept my backpack on and when I dropped
I heard some people at the start saying « good luck on that swallow tail!!! » I was a bit concerned for the first few turns but I realized it was working just fine so I started to attack a bit more!
You live at the beach and surf a lot…does surfing help you snowboard line selection?
I don’t know if it helps but it definitely molds my way of looking at the mountain and the way to ride a line I think. The funny thing about snowboarding, surfing and skating is that each sport gets inspired and inspires the other, it’s really cool!
Tell us about your latest film project. How do we find it and when can we check it out?
I wanted to reunite all my passions into one project: snowboarding, surfing, traveling, adventure, all for a good cause and to meet people from a different culture and point of view. So I went on a five weeks adventure with one of my friend who’s a pro surfer and we decided to follow the course of water from the mountain top of Alaska to the icy waves of the north pacific. We only traveled on water. Either riding on snow, floating pack rafts and canoes on white waters and surfed in the ocean. We met amazing people along the way and made a 52’ documentary film about it that you can find here:
If you can’t have Moule Frites or Raqulette what do you eat after a pow or barrel day?
Moule frite after barrels and raclette after pow for sure!
Tell us something we don’t know but, should know?
I don’t snore!!!