Mount Hood in MayJulie and Lee check out the snowWith spring in full bloom at Windward, it takes a bit of a stretch of imagination to think of taking to the ski slopes, but summer snow is part of the incredible range of options that this part of the country offers. Since sustainability has to be fun, we're always looking for more ways to enjoy the great outdoors, and for fun it's hard to beat the spring ski season on Mt. Hood.
A recent visit to The Bins turned up a snowboard which Julie and Lee decided to put to good use. Once the bindings were replaced, it was off to the slopes to take advantage of the snow before the day warmed up too much. With afternoon temps at the lodge in the fifties, the snow gets slushy after lunch, which is why as the summer progesses they open up the lifts ever earlier in the morning.
Lee was an old hand at snow-boarding and quickly worked his way up mountain to the steeper slopes.
Here's a pic from the top of Palmer--Timberline's uppermost run. At this point in the season, they shut down the lower runs as the action moves up mountain, but in April it's possible to do the three main runs in sequence and cover some three miles of terrain in a single run that drops almost three thousand feet overall.
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