Skiers and riders will find a nice variety of intermediate and expert terrain at Mt. Hood SkiBowl, and the addition of the Outback provides great challenge.

Portland skiers jokingly call Mt. Hood SkiBowl, Mt. Hood Meadows and Timberline “our little day areas,” but the three ski areas within 15 miles of each other on the shanks of Mt. Hood, Oregon’s most beautiful mountain, offer a fine range of experiences for destination skiers and snowboarders.

Most visitors come from Portland for the day or from Seattle for a night or two to experience the area’s varied and abundant skiing. Most of the lodging is in the resort town of Hood River, on the Columbia River, famed for windsurfing and about 35 miles north of Mt. Hood Meadows. Other lodging is closer, but limited. Best of all, it’s within an hour’s drive of a major airport, Portland International.

The terrain and conditions can keep up the enthusiasm of advanced skiers and snowboarders for days at a time, with naturally rugged terrain that hasn’t been dynamited to a freeway finish. We found plenty of what we like to ski, as well as some great terrain for the lower ability levels at Timberline, Mt. Hood Meadows and Mt. Hood Skibowl.