Summertime at Mt Hood

It was June in Tahoe. The birds were out, green had taken over where white had once been, and river rafting season had officially started. People were abuzz with talk of biking, hiking, and floating.  This was the end of my first season devoted to snowboarding and I wasn’t quite sure that I wanted it to be over.

Living in a mountain town the past 6 months had offered me opportunities to meet people who were as in love with sport as I was, and many of the truly devoted had already set off for Mt Hood. Mt Hood: Land of the stoked and summertime shred.  I quickly made some phone calls, found out the spring pass was extended, established a couch to crash on, and then packed up my car and set out for the11 hour drive and a 2 1/2 week trip

I arrived late in the night at my pal Scottie’s house and was stoked for the day ahead; unfortunately for me the day ahead was not as stoked. Fog had forced the closure of the upper mountain (where the park is); and I would soon find out this would be a common occurrence. The mountain, to say the least, held extreme springtime conditions. When there was sun, you saw the park crew salting constantly to keep things speedy, and on foggy days the mountain could be a death patch of ice with limited visibility.

On the days the mountain was open and weather was good we were able to really progress our riding. Everyone I met was friendly and just happy to be on snow. I even saw some good friends from Essi setting up shop in the parking lot. People on hill were constantly offering advice on the tricks you were trying to perfect and in turn asking for tips on things they were trying.

The atmosphere was almost family-like; we were all friends of the snow. The basic public park was set up with a jump line, a rail line, and half pipe, and on each run you had to choose one line as they were set up side by side. The jumps ranged from 10 footers to 40 footers, and the rails were all side entry or ollie onto with C boxes and pole jams to boot.

I had set goals before my trip and I wanted to have backside 360’s, hand plants, and spins in the pipe down, while Scottie wanted to be landing double blackflips regularly. By the end of my trip I had all my stuff stomped at least once and Scottie was landing everything at least 90% of the time. We were happy campers.

On the days the weather was bad or the mountain was closed, we headed out to hike, kayak,visit the Oregon beach, and even go sailing with a friend. Trillum Lake, about 5 minutes from Mt Hood was our designated kayaking spot, followed closely by Clear Lake, which was only 15 minutes away. Both lakes were never busy and the water was the always the perfect temperature for swimming.

The hiking in the area is what really got me excited. It seemed at if every hike we did had beautiful views filled with waterfalls and mountain streams along the way; they were simply breathtaking. My favorites were Little Zig Zag Falls, a very easy 15 minute hike along a stream to a stunning waterfall, and Multnomah Falls, a steep 30 minute hike to the top one of the tallest Waterfalls in North America.

We took an easy day trip out to Cannon Beach, ate fresh taffy and played on the sand. In my last few days, after my spring pass expired, we went sailing from Seattle to Anacortes on a friend's boat. Some of my best Mt Hood days, truthfully, were off the mountain. 

My trip to Mt Hood holds some of the best memories I’ve made in recent years. I landed tricks I never had before and experienced things that weren’t even on my originally itinerary. Everyone there was there for their love of snow, and the atmosphere was always positive on hill.

The riding, at it’s best, was soft and slushy and, at it’s worst, allowed for exploration of the surrounding area. I’ll be doing this again next year…you should all join me.