Binary Bob revisits MBHC
“Baked” was released in 1990 and features the original members of Mt. Baker Hard Core. Courtesy images
“Baked” was released in 1990 and features the original members of Mt. Baker Hard Core. Courtesy images
In 1990, Bob Ridgley (owner of Binary Recording Studio and local filmmaker) got together with some friends and made one of the first independent snowboarding videos, called “Baked.” Following their passion, Bob and the snowboarders that comprised the group known as Mt. Baker Hard Core revolutionized snowboarding and snowboard videos. Some 20 years later, the film is being recognized at an event celebrating snowboarding history and culture that will take place during the same time as the Olympics in Vancouver, B.C.
Bob’s involvement in “Baked” began when he was approached by the original MBHC group Jeff Fulton, Carter Turck, Eric Janko, and David Wallace. The four lived on Lake Samish (in the aptly called “Lake House”) and, according to Bob, lived, ate and breathed snowboarding. At the time, Bob had a record label and had just built his recording studio. He liked the idea and went about filming the foursome, along with another eight or so riders all who were part of the Baker scene while riding.
At the time, snowboarders were viewed as punks and the scene was just beginning. Mt. Baker was the epicenter for snowboarding, according to Bob, in part because of its terrain, quality and quantity of snowfall at Mt. Baker and the people. “Us Northwesterns are a little different than other people around,” he said with a laugh.
He added, “We wanted to do this thing – we believed in it. ”
During the film, Bob went through several cameras the moisture would destroy them, but he was able to catch the riders in top form, riding the hill and capturing the true essence of the MBHC. “They were just living it,” he said of the riders, “It’s like the surfers, it’s all you did it was a lifestyle.” He added, “What we were doing back then was pretty cutting edge compared to the rest of the country – We were doing rail grinds and picnic table jumps.”
Initially, the film was panned by reviewers there weren’t enough pros it in, they said but that didn’t stop the public from renting and buying the film. Within the first week of its release, Bob and the crew had sold 5,000 copies. “It showed the level of proficiency in snowboarding that was done at Mt. Baker,” Bob stated.
Soon, Bob and the guys of MBHC realized they had started something tricks they had filmed were being seen in other videos. More independent films were being released, as the market was no longer just Warren Miller and Burton films.
“It turned the industry around accepting it and making Mt. Baker part of it,” he continued. “It opened a lot of eyes – they were people who had come to the area because of the film.”
In 2010, the film is being celebrated as part of a snowboarding timeline exhibit at the Board Shop in Vancouver, in cooperation with the Olympics. The exhibit is being organized by Trevor Graves, a world-class photographer who was instrumental during the beginning wave of snowboarding. “He’s the guy that made Craig Kelly look so great,” Bob said.
When he was initially asked, Bob didn’t think much about it. “I get hit up all the time,” he said. “I’m thinking, I hear stuff all the time. But, after he researched and found out who Graves was, Bob realized he was “the real thing.”
As the Olympics begin this month, Bob is thrilled at the opportunity to be part of it. “I’m kinda stoked about it because it does mean something,” he said. “It’s amazing to me that someone cares about something we did that far back. We just did it because we loved it.” He added with a smile, “We didn’t have good cameras we just shot with what we could.”
While he’s excited about the event, Bob isn’t sitting back, basking in the glory of his past accomplishments he’s working on several new films, including the potential of a “Baked II.” “I’ve been asked to do it again and I’d love to do it, I’d do it more of a narrative. Like what happened to the surf movies more of a narrative story and all the great action,” he stated. “I actually have a script, but it’s not there yet.”
Aside from the recording studio, Bob spends his time working on “Faces of Change,” a civil rights documentary about the Oklahoma sit-ins in 1958 when 13 children ages 6 to 15 years old went into segregated white restaurants and sat at lunch counters. “Because of them,” said Bob, “they changed the laws of the country.” The demonstration occurred weekly and lasted more than five years the long peaceful demonstration in United States history. “They turned the Jim Crowe laws around.”
Bob, along with Julia Crawford and a crew, traveled to meet the participants 50 years later. (One of the kids at the time was musical artist Kanye West’s mother, but she passed before the interview).
The film will be released locally this spring, then move onto the festival circuit before, hopefully, wider distribution.
For Bob, it’s an important film for the youth of today. “The message behind the film is that we want young people to realize that they can make a change,” adding with a sense of passion and urgency, “These kids actually made a major change.”
