Mt. Hood Makes Improvement for 201314 season!
Mt. Hood Meadows summer improvements included allocating more terrain for lower level learning, stepped up trail maintenance on the lower mountain, an ice melt project on the Sun Deck and connecting the resort to the world through fibre optics. Here's what these improvements will mean for our guests!
Reallocated Terrain for Training
Meadows is allocating more terrain to training, particularly for those beginners transitioning into intermediate level. Meadows has repurposed 4 acres of terrain formerly used by terrain parks. The terrain, serviced by the resort's "Easy Rider" lift will be used in learning classes to accelerate the natural progression. The area will also be family friendly for parents to take young children to advance their skill levels.
Stepped Up / Stumped Out Trail Maintenance
Meadows summer trail maintenance focused on the lower mountain, cutting brush on more than 20 acres on the Hood River Meadows runs. This terrain includes Meadows' two most popular terrain parks Forest Park and Park Place. The brush removal should allow for earlier opening and more consistent grooming throughout the season. A special emphasis on stump removal on six kilometers of Nordic trails should allow the Nordic Center to require less snowpack to open, assuring early season and lead season operations.
This photo was taken on Lower Tamarack. Brush this tall or taller is prevalent throughout the very bottom of the HRM ski runs. Snow pressure and our groomers have traditionally bent over the brush, so it wouldn't take 10 feet of snow to cover it. But this brush cutting should allow us to open the mountain earlier with good coverage. The runs we worked on that had this type of growth were Willow, HRM Face, the edge of Ski Way and Lower Tamarack.
Sun Deck Ice Melt Project
The Paradise Sun Deck got a face lift – that is, 3000 square feet (about a quarter of the decks cement surface) was removed, to install ice melt. The Sun Deck is a very popular spring attraction, but heavy snows in the heart of winter have limited usage, even on sunny days. The ice melt will allow the Alpenstube Restaurant to extend sit down service outdoors whenever the weather allows. Guests will enjoy the sunshine outdoors December – February, just like March and April thanks to the ice melt project.
Fiber Connected for Social Networking
The bandwidth to Meadows will be increased by nearly 20 times with a new fiber optic line connecting the resort to the rest of the world. This will allow resort guests to stay connected for business and socially, with increased band width and wifi hot spots throughout the resort.