Words and photos: Ethan Stone
Yesterday the Spring Pass ended at Timberline Ski Area on Mt. Hood. It was a cold and blustery day, jacket weather, a brisk reminder that skiing, even at the end of May, is a cold-weather sport.
The Timberline terrain park crew just moved the park up the mountain, from winter quarters on the Stormin' Norman lift to the Magic Mile chair. A fresh new park consisting of a halfpipe, three-jump line, and a bevy of rail and box features awaited everyone who was looking to get that last scan on their Timberline Spring Pass before it expired.
The Mile Canyon terrain park. These features will be here until mid August.
The Spring Pass at Timberline has become the stuff of legend. It offers two months of some of the best skiing Mt. Hood has to offer, from spring pow to spring park, at a price that entices shredders from across the globe to drop everything and head for Oregon come March.
The Pass has such a dedicated following that each spring, gypsy camps of skiers and snowboarders spring up among the dense woods alongside Highway 26. Hardcore shredders with little cash on hand drive out in old smoking vehicles, stringing tarps, pitching tents, skiing and then sitting around the campfire and dreaming about tomorrow's hot laps.
But the days of this egalitarian shred paradise are numbered. All too soon spring turns to summer, the Spring Pass expires and the costly Summer Pass ($990) comes into effect. Palmer Snowfield and the public park become the exclusive domain of race teams, snowboard camps, and those who have the funds or the ingenuity to acquire a summer pass one way or another.
The camps at Lolo Pass, the Graveyard, and the Airstrip
Yesterday the Spring Pass ended at Timberline Ski Area on Mt. Hood. It was a cold and blustery day, jacket weather, a brisk reminder that skiing, even at the end of May, is a cold-weather sport.
The Timberline terrain park crew just moved the park up the mountain, from winter quarters on the Stormin' Norman lift to the Magic Mile chair. A fresh new park consisting of a halfpipe, three-jump line, and a bevy of rail and box features awaited everyone who was looking to get that last scan on their Timberline Spring Pass before it expired.
The Mile Canyon terrain park. These features will be here until mid August.
The Spring Pass at Timberline has become the stuff of legend. It offers two months of some of the best skiing Mt. Hood has to offer, from spring pow to spring park, at a price that entices shredders from across the globe to drop everything and head for Oregon come March.
The Pass has such a dedicated following that each spring, gypsy camps of skiers and snowboarders spring up among the dense woods alongside Highway 26. Hardcore shredders with little cash on hand drive out in old smoking vehicles, stringing tarps, pitching tents, skiing and then sitting around the campfire and dreaming about tomorrow's hot laps.
But the days of this egalitarian shred paradise are numbered. All too soon spring turns to summer, the Spring Pass expires and the costly Summer Pass ($990) comes into effect. Palmer Snowfield and the public park become the exclusive domain of race teams, snowboard camps, and those who have the funds or the ingenuity to acquire a summer pass one way or another.
The camps at Lolo Pass, the Graveyard, and the Airstrip
