Mt. Hood Meadows On Track For A November 25 Opening - Earlier With More Snow!
The first major winter storm to hit the Cascades this season lived up to expectations depositing 17 inches of snow in the base area over the weekend. The storm slammed into the mountain Friday - with high winds and a freezing level that poured eight inches of rain before turning to snow Saturday. Too bad - that could have amounted to eight feet of snow, but fortunately, the freezing level dropped and Meadows received 17 inches of snow in the base area through Monday - lifting the snow depth to 23 inches.
Snow harvesting efforts will begin this week to fortify the base area snowpack, with an emphasis on lift loading zones. Meadows harvests snow from the parking lot and hauls it to base area lifts to supplement the natural early season snowpack. The storm deposited more snow at mid-mountain, but the upper mountain looks a bit scoured due to the high winds which peaked at 115 mph at the top of Cascade Express.
On Track for at November Opening
The forecast has dried out over the next ten days, but temperatures continue to be cold which is great for snow harvesting and reinforcing the base. VP of Sales and Marketing Dave Tragethon says, "We are on track for opening on November 25 if the temps remain cold and we can get some more natural snow. We’re hopeful that we could get a preview day or weekend in before Thanksgiving - and with another big storm we could open before Thanksgiving. We make that opening decision not only on the conditions or snowpack we have, but also based on the forecast and our ability to present and sustain a quality experience for our guests."
The storm knocked out a PGE power transformer and crews worked through the weekend storm to restore power to the resort - that project was completed Monday.
Pass Sales Soar
Another thing the storm knocked out is season pass sales - which are literally knocked out of the park far surpassing last year’s record sales. All Access pass pricing has been moved up to the next tier and, like years past, will be removed from sale along with the 5-Time and 10-Time pass product once thresholds are reached. It’s apparent that the La Niña forecast and this powerful storm have snow enthusiasts excited about the season.
