Sports

Winter snow season is coming to an end

By Bryan DeLomba

After a few years of disappointing winter seasons, the mountains were pounded with snow this season and Portlanders flocked to the slopes all winter.

Even though it wasn’t a record-breaking year at the mountain, it was above the yearly average snowfall. The snow started falling in mid-October and has continued since then. December saw the most snowfall by far, averaging over seven inches per day. Timberline has a base depth of 181 inches at the main lodge, and Mt. Hood Meadows has a base depth of 167 inches, and has a mid-mountain depth of 177 inches.

Mt. Bachelor hosted a few competitions this year including the Mountain Dew competition series. The best skiers and snowboarders in the world met in Bend for the slopestyle and superpipe events Jan. 13-14 and Feb. 23-24.

As most skiers and snowboarders would know, Mt. Hood is known for its amazing runs, from the easiest runs to the hardest black diamond runs. But it is also known for the ski and snowboard parks. This year the big three resorts on Mt. Hood stepped up their game and created many new parks and bettered the existing parks. Mt. Hood Meadows debuted Paradise Parks, a freestyle experience featuring up to eight different parks themed to reflect the Portland lifestyle. The parks range from the Shipyard, which has six rails, a table top, and a spine, and the Rose City Park, which has two table tops, a quarter pipe, and five rails.

Spring skiing and snowboarding is currently underway and will last until May 26. Timberline will also have summer skiing and snowboarding during the mornings and also be open for camps. For more information go to www.skihood.com for Mt. Hood Meadows, or go to www.timberlinelodge.com.