It’s hard to believe a legend like Pat Moore hadn’t checked off every legendary resort—Mt. Baker included. But when Ninja Suit / Airblaster dropped the recent video A GOOD WIPE (watch above), it became clear that even Pat hasn’t been everywhere. And honestly, not many people would want their first turns at Baker documented. The terrain is challenging and extreme, to say the least, and if you’re not with a local, you’ve got no idea where to find the goods.

Luckily, Pat had fellow Ninja Suit teammate Austen Sweetin as his guide, where he quickly learned that staying dry, staying loose, and figuring it out the hard way is just how it goes at Mt. Baker. Somewhere along the way, Pat learned the true meaning of a “good wipe.” And since the video was too entertaining not to dig deeper, we gave him a call to learn more.

Baselayers – literally the unseen sponsor – how long have you been rocking with Ninja Suits?

I've worn Ninja Suits way before I rode for them. They’ve always been the best base layer. I fall a lot. And just having one giant onesie, rather than two separate pieces, keeps snow from getting directly to your skin, which has always been nice. Not only in pow, but also in summertime, springtime, or any type of riding—avoiding that snow burn. I’ve been wearing them for a while, and riding for them for, I wanna say, like eight years now. I’ve had big sponsors, little sponsors, and Ninja Suit & Airblaster have always been so amazing—especially in how they show up. They’ve supported a bunch of my stuff, like Risk Maturity, Methodology—they’ve always been involved in a significant way. They are a smaller brand that has always supported snowboarding.

Not surprised they’d be hyped on a Baker trip, but I am surprised you’ve never been there. How have you not been there? I’m from the East Coast, too, and I went to Baker before I went to Utah.

I've driven past Baker plenty of times. With the Forum crew, we used to always just go straight past Baker up to Whistler. I don’t know—for whatever reason, I just never made it there. It was always a bucket-list thing. When I first got on Ninja Suit, I remember talking with Austin about the idea of him taking me around Baker. That was always top of our list. I think we both thought it was hilarious that I hadn't been yet—and you know, he knows it so well. You really need to go with someone who knows it. 

Solo, it’s been some of the gnarliest snowboarding I’ve ever done, and then when I’m with locals, it’s like, I get it now.

Yeah, totally. At the end of the day, I was like, man, this is just like a game of real-life Chutes and Ladders. I’m taking the chairlift up and basically just sliding my way down this mountain. The terrain is just mental—like right off the chairlift, you can get into gnarly stuff. And I love that it’s so densely treed and so sneaky because of the trees. When we went, it was perfect. There was a forecast for 11 inches, but when we got up there and checked again, it was revised to 1 inch. But the conditions were good enough that we could get into a lot of stuff. I was psyched to have my first experience up there, not be this stressful panic. Once we got out on the Arm, we found some really good snow. 

After finally riding there, what separates Baker from other resorts?

I mean, every run— we'd get to the top, and I’m just looking around at the terrain, and it’s like you’re basically in the backcountry. You’re getting off a magical couch that takes you to all this insane terrain. So yeah, it’s no surprise when you look at all the riders that have come from there—they’re absolute beasts. And you're like no wonder this is the mecca of the Northwest.

What is the meaning of a “good wipe”? The squeegee seemed to be out often.

The squeegee was around on the East Coast too, but I hadn’t experienced the windshield wiper in a while. Living in Utah—and then Tahoe—we just didn’t necessarily have that type of moisture. So riding and actually needing windshield wipers was pretty hilarious.

The Ninja Suit held up in Baker, PNW, with moisture? Seems like a good place to product test. You probably fell…

Oh my God—at Baker, you have to slide. I spent more time on my ass than I did on my snowboard there. I was laughing the whole time. And not to give myself any excuse, but Austin would generally drop in first and kind of show me where I was going. That one inch of snow disappeared, and what was underneath was just straight-up ice. So it was a pretty hilarious experience. The Ninja Suit held up for sure—I was on my ass, like I was saying, the whole time.

What’s the next trip for you in your Ninja Suit?

I’m going to Japan with Pat (Bridges). Then I’ll come back for a little bit, and then we have a big family vacation to Hawaii in March for my mom’s 70th birthday.

You’re not taking her to Baker?

Definitely not, haha.