Early snow gets chairlifts moving

Rec & Roll

By Jason Vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, Nov 19, 2009

Two snowboarders ride the Mount Hood Express chair at the Meadows in near whiteout conditions as heavy snowfall blankets the mountain on Tuesday. Meadows opened Nov. 11, the earliest opening in 15 years.

COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT

SKIING

Snow’s here

Resorts on Mount Hood are coming off four pretty good seasons of snow, and Meadows, Timberline and Skibowl have opened already for skiers and snowboarders.

“We typically target Thanksgiving for opening, but this (Nov. 14) was the earliest opening in 15 years,” says Hans Whipper, Skibowl operations manager. The lowest level resort, located across Highway 26 from Government Camp, has limited openings for now. Timberline and Meadows opened full-time previously.

“Getting good conditions for Veterans Day was a big boost,” added Jon Tullis, Timberline director of public affairs.

“Opening late last year was troubling and, then it started snowing and wouldn’t stop, and people from Portland couldn’t get here for a while,” he adds.

The early snow offers some good news for the resorts as they prepare to deal with a poor economy that has forced people to watch their discretionary spending.

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