Meadows Blog
November 17, 2009
by Meadows Team
in Connection
| 4 comments
We like the forecast - it's just what you want to see to build up the base and get some great powder turns in as well. Thought we'd send out an early Powder Alert for Wednesday - looks like it could be a good one. The forecast says snow the rest of the week!
We're opening HRM Wednesday - operating the Hood River Express and parking in the HRM lot. Trails will be open but remember it is early season conditions - be aware of unmarked obstacles. Our Hood River guests enjoy parking at HRM - the skier services center will be open (tickets, lockers, restrooms) and the Rennaisance Cafe.
It's still wait and see for any Heather Canyon or Meadows After Dark openings. Heather requires a lot of snow to build snow bridges across the creeks in the lower canyon. And we want to have a great coverage on our night lighted terrain before we turn on the lights. But we're optimistic - if the storms keep producing we could be looking at opening both earlier than normal. We'll keep you posted here on the blog!
Hood River folks - there are a couple of events worth attending.
Thursday night Meadows photographer extraordinaire Richard Hallman will present a slide show entitled "Chasing Down a Dream" at Dog River Coffee at 7 PM. The show is free, but a donation of $5 is suggested, with proceeds benefiting Gorge Grown Food Network in memory of Maggie Guth Bleakley. Bleakley was actively involved in the GGFN along with her husband, Silas, before her death Oct. 27 on their farm in Mosier.Purchase some raffle tickets for a chance to win a Meadows season pass along with other great prizes.
The Hood River Snow Sport Show Ski & Snowboard movie premiere event featuring Sammy C in "Can't Stop" along with Standard Films "Black Winter" & Level 1's "Refresh" will be presented Saturday night (November 21) at the Hood River Inn. $5 Admission - proceeds beneft local youth ski and snowboard teams.
We hope you can attend these great events, be entertained, enlightened and support some great causes all in the same evening!
Onward!
--Meadows Team
November 15, 2009
by Meadows Team
in Connection
| 3 comments
What a terrific opening! Those that made it up here this week were treated to some incredible early season powder. Saturday especially was epic with 15 inches of snow Friday followed by clear blue skies with no winds Saturday morning.
Grant Myrdal Photography
We'd like to take a moment to introduce professional photographer Grant Myrdal. He will be at Meadows weekends and holidays and during races and special events. You can see some of his shots Grant took Saturday in our photo gallery - or you can get more information on his services.
Daily Operations Continue 9 AM - 4 PM
Looking ahead this week we're continuing our 9 AM - 4 PM daily operations. Monday and Tuesday Mt. Hood Express, Shooting Star Express, Vista Express, Buttercup and the Ballroom Carpet are scheduled. We're holding off on Hood River Express - with the current snowpack at Hood River Meadows we don't want to attempt grooming until we get some more snow. We also need more snow to open Cascade. The freezing levels rise Monday but are expected to drop down Monday evening and snow is forecast for the rest of the week! We'll evaluate this again by Wednesday to determine what lifts we can add to the matrix.
Meadows After Dark
Our night operations aren't scheduled to begin until mid-December, but we'll consider opening Meadows After Dark earlier if we get good snow coverage under the lights. It could be on a limited basis - just 3 nights a week, but we need to see how the snow treats us. No firm dates yet.
Stay Connected
We're sending out our daily snowpack report - you can select what days of the week you want to receive the report on this page. We're also posting frequently to our Facebook and Twitter pages, and have started sending out lift operational updates on our special Twitter feed MHM_Lifts. We suggest you follow us, and turn your device "on" to receive Tweets when you're at the mountain informing you of lift operational changes.
It's been a great start to the season. We hope to see you on the mountain soon!
-- Meadows Team
November 14, 2009
by Dave Tragethon
in Guest Stories
| 0 comments
Luke asked Emily to marry him while shredding together on opening day. It was a beginning of a great season for Meadows, and the beginning of a life together for Luke and Emily. Love is in the air!
Congratulation Luke and Emily and thank you for sharing your story with us.
Submit your story and a picture here.
November 14, 2009
by Meadows Team
in Guest Stories
| 0 comments
Story: My husband, Danny, and I have been riding together at Meadows for five seasons now and even longer separately. Our love for snowboarding brought us together and you will find us here every Saturday this season. We can't wait for tomorrow... our first day up this season. Thanks for all the work you guys do to make Mt. Hood Meadows Oregon's best ski resort. We LOVE you, Meadows!
November 13, 2009
by Dave Tragethon
in Parks Blog
| 4 comments
Just a quick heads up - our Paradise Parks groomers are constructing the Zoo tonight. The Crew will be in early to touch up the jumps and landings. This just in from Jason who heads up parks grooming:
ZOO: Groomed
Rollers, 3 table tops, and 1 mini pipe
-- Paradise Parks Crew
November 13, 2009
by Dave Tragethon
in Connection, Media Center
| 1 comment
Hi folks!
A major storm is blanketing Meadows with light November powder, accumulating at a rate of more than an inch an hour. It started snowing just before our lifts launched this morning at 8:55 AM, and as of 3 PM nine inches had fallen. The wind at the top of Mt. Hood Express is wind loading powder back into the bowls so it's first track powder every run. The forecast is calling for another 6 - 10 inches this evening so we're not done yet! And how about this to celebrate:
WE HIT 40 INCHES AT THE BASE AREA STAKE!
Six lifts are scheduled from 9 AM - 4 PM Saturday, including four high-speed quads. Mt. Hood Express and Shooting Star Express, which have been operating since opening day, will be joined by Vista Express if the weather system clears the upper mountain by morning as forecast. Keep in mind that with this storm raging it will take some time to prep the lift, but we will get it open as early as possible. That should offer guests chest deep powder stashes on virgin terrain since no one has been up there yet this season.
Hood River Express is also scheduled to provide uplift service from the Hood River Meadows parking lot. If we get enough snow that we can pack we may open a lane for skiing or riding back down to the parking lot, but we won't know until Saturday morning. Otherwise we'll shuttle you back to your car if you're parked at HRM.
The Paradise Parks Crew has been busy building "The Zoo" on Mitchell Creek - so we expect to have a line of mini-jumps there, if the wind doesn't fill them all in. You can check the Parks Blog for details.
Lift tickets will be priced at non-peak rates: $57 for adults, $35 for Juniors age 7 – 14, $35 for Seniors age 65+ and $9 for a season pass for kids 6 and under.
We'll operate our Adult Ski and Snowboard School and Children's Learning Center out of the South Lodge Learning Center. We'll also have our equipment rental center, Meadows Boutique retail shop, High Performance Center for demos, Day Care, and five restaurants, including the Finish Line opening up for the season, and the Renaissance Cafe at HRM.
Get ready for a sensational day at Meadows! Drive careful and use your traction devices - please don't be the guy that spun out and backed up traffic!
We'll see you on the mountain!
-- Meadows Team
November 11, 2009
by Meadows Team
in Connection, Media Center
| 8 comments
What an incredible opening day! The day broke with 4 inches of new snow on top of our 30" snowpack offering some opening day powder for those fortunate enough to kick off their season today at Mt. Hood Meadows.
We wanted you to have a place to comment on the day, as well as to see some of these awesome pictures taken by photographer Richard Hallman. If you have some good shots, upoad them and we'll put them into our Opening Day Gallery!
Richard Hallman Photos of Opening Day!
Kudos to the crew for making the most of the 42" of snow that fell since Friday and turning into some fantastic early season fun! It was a great way to open an epic season, and we are glad to share it with you here today!
KOIN LOCAL NEWS - 6 Opening Day Coverage
KPTV-12 Opening Day Coverage
See you on the slopes!
-- Meadows Team
November 10, 2009
by Dave Tragethon
in Parks Blog
| 8 comments
The Crew is On It!
Shipyard is shaping up to be a major rail park on opening day. The crew has been KILLIN' IT, putting in four different lines with 11 different features.
Take your pick:
Flat down box top into a Down rail
Plastic culvert jib
Log spine
Booter rail
Kink mailbox
Picnic table
Fun box
C rail
Dance floor box into ledge into a mail box
Shipyard - where imagination, sweat, technology and "what if" meet! Kudos to the crew - we'll see you at the Shipyard on opening day!
Our crew is working late into the evening to get Shipyard ready for you Wednesday. We'll see you on opening day!
November 10, 2009
by Dave Tragethon
in Connection, Media Center
| 16 comments
Hi Folks!
Here's what you've been waiting for - we're opening Wednesday with four lift scheduled from 9 AM - 4 PM: Buttercup, Easy Rider, Mt. Hood Express and Shooting Star Express. We're working hard to get the terrain served by these lifts ready for opening day. The current base is 30 inches at the base area, deeper higher up on the mountain. That's good coverage for November, but early season conditions exist, expect unmarked obstacles and as always ski and ride with care.
Having said that, we're stoked! This storm that has already given us nearly 40 inches is forecast to stick with us this week. Looks like powder on opening day! Check our snow conditions page or call our snow phones:
Snow Phones
503.227.7669 (227.SNOW) Portland
541.386.7547 (386.SKIS) Hood River
Mt. Hood Express and Shooting Star – are scheduled for opening day, along with the Easy Rider lift, Buttercup and the Ballroom Carpet in the Fun Zone. The two high speed quads serve up some of the tastiest terrain on the mountain, well worth an early season plunge, especially if there's some powder sprinkled on top.
Shipyard is under construction and we'll have several rails for jibbin' and grinding.
Lift ticket prices will be
Lift Ticket Pricing for Opening Day
$52 for adults
$30 for juniors age 7 to 14
$30 for seniors age 65+.
Kids 6 and under get a season pass for just $9.
Veterans and military personnel receive a $10 discount with I.D.
Passholder Services will be taking pictures in the new location - South Lodge down from Concierge across from the Tully's coffee cart.
Passholder Services Open at 8 AM
Season Pass Liability Release Link for parents or legal guardians to sign for their kids
Adult and Children's ski school lessons will be offered. Adults can purchase group and private lessons at our Daycare Center, which is also open daily. Children's Lessons can be purchased in the North Lodge Rental Center or at Daycare in the South Lodge.
Children's Ski School
2 hour lesson and lift ticket $75 / rentals $5 extra
Must be registered at least half hour prior to the lesson start time.
Lessons go out at 10am and 1pm daily.
Two - 2hr lessons for $100 / No supervision between lessons.
You can rent skis and snowboards as well as helmets from our Salomon Equipment Rental Center in the North Lodge, or demo equpiment at the HPC. Bring your appetite - The Alpenstube, Schuss. Meadowmart and Tully's Coffee Cart will be open for your eating enjoyment. And you can outfit yourself for the entire season in fashions with function at Meadows Boutique.
Here's some trivia - oening dates at Mt. Hood Meadows for tha past 15 seasons:
Opening Dates
94-95 11/4/94
95-96 12/3/95
96-97 10/21/96
97-98 11/24/97
98-99 11/22/98
99-00 12/3/99
00-01 12/1/00
01-02 11/24/01
02-03 12/17/02
03-04 11/20/03
04-05 12/18/04
05-06 11/11/05
06-07 12/9/06
07-08 11/23/07
08-09 12/14/08
09-10 11/11/09
So as you can see, we're already getting a better start on the season then 12 of the past 15 years!
Drive careful and we'll see you at the mountain Wednesday for the opening of the 2009/10 season!
-- Meadows Team
November 10, 2009
by Dave Tragethon
in Connection
| 18 comments
The pace has picked up as we prepare for our Wednesday opening. By Tuesday evening we'll be able to let you know what lifts will be operating and what terrain will be open.
KGW had a great report from Amy Troy on getting Meadows ready for opening - it included a favorable forecast for more snow from Matt Zafino.
We thought you'd enjoy these pictures taken early Monday morning by Executive Director of Mountain Operations Steve Warila and Guest Services Director Paul Jones. Something to look forward to as we prepare for opening!
Enjoy! And we'll see you on the mountain soon!
-- Meadows Team