Mount Hood Meadows - World Snowboard Guide

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There are three main resorts on Mt Hood, a dormant (not extinct!) volcano: Mt Hood Meadows, Ski Bowl and Timberline. Although small, Meadows is the most popular and has a huge range of interesting riding crammed into its space and, joy of joys, virtually no traversing anywhere. It maybe tempting fate, but it is hard to get lost on Hood. You can spend a whole day taking different lines, but know that you are not too far from where you started. This is a very mixed ability mountain, with some nice basic novice terrain to pockets of testing trails for the more advanced rider, but in truth this not the most testing place, Steep descents will only be found in very short doses, like on Waterfall or around the back of Nightmare Knoll (a 40+ft cliff). The locals have their own names for most of the stuff they ride and are more than happy to show you their favourite little stash(!). The lifties are cool too, and a large proportion ride. If you can't afford the daily rates, the mountain is open for night-riding until March, although not extensively: take advantage of the special offers at Safeway's Supermarkets ($8.50 for Sunday 4pm-10pm) and you can't complain. Meadows is a popular destination for summer riding, with Tim Windell's High Cascade and Mt Hood Snowboard Camp, but you have to be enrolled on a camp to use their facilities.

New for season

2008/9:Whether it is access to new off-piste terrain or the new ticket scanning technology installed at the chairlifts, improvements at Mt. Hood Meadows this season will enhance the guest and staff experience on the mountain.

04/05: 3 mill$ 4 person chair will open up the Badlands area

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Resort Statistics

Resort Type: Alpine
Winter: Nov to June
Summer: July to August

Lifts

Total Lifts: 10
Chair lifts: 10
Max people per hour: 16,145
Board Leashes required: Yes

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 87
Total ride area: 2150acres
Longest run: 3miles (5km)

Top lift: 2225m
Vertical drop: 846m
First lift: 1379m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 15%
Red runs: 50%
Black runs: 35%

Lift Passes

	Low Season		High Season
	USD	GBP	USD	GBP
Day Pass	54.00	35.66	69.00	45.57
6-Day Pass	-	-	-	-
6-Day Linked area Pass	-	-	-	-

	USD	GBP
Season Pass:	900.00	594.36

Lift Passes:
1 Day pass $48-52
Half-day $41-45
Night only $22
4 of 6 Days $160
Season pass $999 for 15 to 22 year olds $499
Super Bowl Snow Cat provides 1,700ft
vertical dropping into Heather Canyon. Head to top of Cascade Express $10 a trip.
Lift times:8.00am to 10.00pm

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 9.15metres
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 0%

Facilities

	USD	GBP
Days Rental of Board & Boots:	37.00	24.43
4hr Group Lesson (full day):	40.00	26.42
4hr Private Lesson (full day):	-	-

Snowboard Schools: Group lessons $35 for 90mins
Beginner package $99 for 3 days lift, lesson & hire
Private lessons $65 per hour
Snowboard Hire: Board & boots $28 per day, demo kit $40 per day
Night Riding: : 240 acres including park & pipe. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights until 9:00 PM. Friday and Saturday nights until 10:00 PM.

Other activities

Heliboarding: : Not available
Snowmobiles: Not available

Further information

www.skihood.com
Email:info@skihood.com

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Summary

Full-on freerider's resort offering great, open and tree-lined terrain with crowd-free slopes suited to novices. Good but very basic local services.

ON THE SLOPES: Very good indeed
OFF THE SLOPES: Basic but good
MONEY WISE: Prices vary for lodgings, but overall this is a very affordable place.