Mt. Hood Meadows' New Mt. Hood Express Six-Seater To Have Grand Opening Friday

After much anticipation, Mt. Hood Meadows' brand-new six-seater, Mt. Hood Express, will have its grand opening on Friday, opening up more terrain for guests to enjoy over the holiday weekend.

In addition, another lift, the high-speed quad Shooting Star Express, is also scheduled to make its season debut later in the day on Friday. The resort will also start Night Operations on Friday, running the Buttercup and Daisy Chairs, as well as the Ballroom Carpet conveyor, until 9 PM. Night Operations are scheduled to run Wednesdays through Sundays until early March, depending on conditions.

Meadows has been waiting with bated breath to open up the new Leitner-Poma lift after construction wrapped in October, but the El Niño winter that has impacted snowpacks at ski resorts across the Pacific Northwest has made opening up and maintaining terrain quite the challenge – one that Meadows has embraced.

"We're making the most of this slow start to the season and embracing the cards we've been dealt," said Greg Pack, President and General Manager of Mt. Hood Meadows. "Thanks to our mountain team, we've been able to bring in snow and prepare everything for the lift opening."

The resort has continued to invest in its snow harvesting infrastructure over the past several years to help supplement what falls on the slopes and help mitigate the impact caused by unseasonably warm or dry winters. When snow falls, the resort will push snow from the parking lots into large piles, then load it into snowcats outfitted with dump beds, which then disperse the snow onto the slopes to help open up new terrain and maintain the trails.

Despite a year-to-date snowfall of 56", that work has allowed the resort to open up a significant portion of its southside terrain, including the higher-elevation lifts of Vista and Cascade Express, which debuted Dec. 15 and Dec. 16, respectively. Now, that work will allow the resort to open up Mt. Hood Express and Shooting Star Express.

Pack noted terrain will be limited and early season conditions exist, but added, "We're confident that our guests will still enjoy the added options."

The new Mt. Hood Express six-seater serves as the backbone of Meadows and marks a significant increase in capacity over the previous four-seater version of the lift. This increase in capacity is expected to help reduce lift lines in the base area and thereby disperse guests faster to other lifts at the resort.