Portland skiers jokingly call Timberline, Mt. Hood Meadows and Mt. Hood SkiBowl "our little day areas," but the three ski areas within 15 miles of each other on the shanks of Mt. Hood, Oregon's most beautiful mountain, offer a fine range of experiences for destination skiers and snowboarders.

Most visitors come from Portland for the day or from Seattle for a night or two to experience the area's varied and abundant skiing. Most of the lodging is in the resort town of Hood River on the Columbia River, famed for windsurfing and about 35 miles north of Mt. Hood Meadows. Other lodging is closer, but limited. Best is legendary Timberline Lodge in the middle of the ski area. Built in the 1930s by the WPA and dedicated by FDR, it has been designated a National Historic Monument. Timberline is within an hour's drive of a major airport, Portland International.

The terrain and conditions can keep up the enthusiasm of advanced skiers and snowboarders for days at a time, with naturally rugged terrain that hasn't been dynamited to a freeway finish. We found plenty of what we like to ski, as well as some great terrain for the lower ability levels at Timberline, Mt. Hood Meadows and Mt. Hood Skibowl.

Timberline, open year-round except for some maintenance time in September, is known for its summer skiing and beautiful, historic lodge (for more detail, see Lodging). Timberline was the continent's first ski area to offer lift-served summer skiing and now more than 50,000 skiers come each summer.

New this season is the Still Creek Basin area - 220 acres serviced by the new Jeff Flood Express quad, longest chairlift on Mt. Hood and powered by wind-generated energy. It opens 8 new alpine trails, including Timberline's longest run at 1.5 miles, and accesses chutes and glades. It also includes a new cross-country/snowshoe trail to the bottom of the lift, and gives Timberline the honor of boasting the longest vertical of any US area in the Pacific Northwest.

The Palmer Snowfield, at 8,500 feet above sea level, has a steady pitch at the advanced-intermediate level. It's challenging enough that you'll find World Cup ski racers from several countries practicing technique. A high-speed quad, Palmer Express, allows Timberline to keep the terrain open nearly the entire year and gives the area the greatest vertical drop in the Northwest—3,580 feet. The deep snows of winter sometimes require cat drivers to dig out the lift, the upper terminal of which is inside the mountain. Spring skiing is incredible off this lift. Palmer runs through Labor Day every year, conditions permitting (and they usually do).

Timberline Ski Resort Facts:

Summit elevation: 8,540 feet
Vertical drop: 3,620 feet
Base elevation: 4,920 feet (bottom of Jeff Flood Express ); 6.000 feet (Timberline Lodge)

Expert: ++
Advanced: ++
Intermediate: +++++
Beginner: ++++
First-timer: +++++

Dining: +++
Apres-ski/nightlife: ++
Other activities: +

Address: Timberline Lodge, Timberline, OR 97028
Area code: 503
Ski area phone: 622-7979
Snow report: 222-2211
Fax: 622-0710
Toll-free reservations:
(800) 547-1406
E-mail: info@timberlinelodge.com
Internet: www.timberlinelodge.com

Number and types of lifts: 7—4 high-speed quads, 1 triple, 1 double, 1 moving carpet
Skiable acreage: over 1,800 acres
Snowmaking: None
Uphill capacity: 9,900 per hour
Parks & pipes: 2 parks, 1 pipe
Bed base: 71 rooms on mountain
Nearest lodging: Slopeside, historic Timberline Lodge
Resort child care: Limited basis
Adult ticket, per day:
$49/regular $54/peak (07/08)