Mount Baker in Washington State: Interesting Facts

The Mount Baker Ski Resort area reported that 95 feet of snow fell in the 1988-1999 season. This is reportedly a world record of snowfall for anywhere in the world at this point in time. It also beat it's own record for the most amount of snow to fall in one month, with 304 inches falling.

Mount Baker, in Washington State is situated 35 miles East of Bellingham, and It's dome rises 15 miles South of the Canadian-American border. It is the third highest mountain in the state of Washington. The elevation of the mountain is an incredible 10, 778 feet. The summit crater is filled with ice, and it has unique ice cavern tunnels passing through the ice. Only two other North American mountains are known to have this, they are Mount Wrangell and Mount Rainier. Mount Baker was named after 3rd Lieutenant Joseph Baker. It was the explorer George Vancouver that named the mountain after the Lieutenant as he was the first European to see the mountain in 1792.

During the mid 19th century there was a series of explosions from the mountain. These explosions were seen from the Bellingham area. Avalanches have also been occurring since the late 50's. In 1975 a sudden change in fumarolic activity led people to believe that Mount Baker was about to erupt. Equipment was set up to determine the movement of the magma. It was soon noted from the geophysical surveys that although there was increased heat flow the mountain was in no danger of erupting. The last eruption was in the year 1880. Edmund T Coleman was the first person to ascend the mountain in 1868.

There are ten glaciers on the mountain, the Coleman glacier being the largest measuring 2.5 Km. Other glaciers are Mazama, Roosevelt, Boulder, Park, Deming, and Easton. The United States navy have named two of their ammunition ships after the mountain. USS Mount Baker AE-4 was in operation from 1841-1947 when it went out of commission. It did come back in to commission in 1951-1969. USS Mount Baker AE-34 was in operation from 1972 until 1996 when it was decommissioned, and placed in service with the Military Sealift Command.

Mount Baker is a very beautiful to look at, and as a result of his pleasantness to the eye it has been featured in various movies over the years. The latest movie to have this mountain in it is Sentimental Values, by Funner Films.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Baker_Ski_Area