Mountain Layout—Skiing

Mt. Hood Meadows has by far the most varied terrain of the Mt. Hood ski areas, is as big as many Western destination resorts, and gets an average of 430 inches of snow. The Vista Express quad lift, Mt. Hood Meadow's fifth, accesses terrain that was not used much. The skier's right terrain it serves has been groomed regularly over the past few years and is full of expert powder caches, pitches, cruisers and some beginner runs.

Heather Canyon has always been the favorite for experts, when it is open. Tthree of its entry runs—Twilight, Pluto and Moon Bowl—are winchcat-groomed, which means advanced and upper-intermediate skiers can go where they before had feared to tread. Snowcat skiing up to 9,000 feet adds another 1,700 feet of vertical drop. To start way high with the runs into Super Bowl, you must take the snowcat up from the top of Cascade Express. The ride costs $10 per trip.

A favorite intermediate area is under the Hood River Express chair, called "Hurry" (for its initials—HRE). The entire HRE pod is designated slow speed for families and novice skiers and snowboarders. Beginners have the runs under the Daisy, Buttercup and Red chairs. Mitchell Creek Boulevard, reached from the Red chair, is particularly great for kids. The 240 acres of night skiing terrain are served by four chairlifts near the lodge, one of them a high-speed quad.

Here's a trail map.