Trail profiles: Mount Hood Meadows Ski Resort

For their own safety, first-time snowriders are shepherded to a specific area near the base of the resort. The terrain is not, however, the typical, flat, parking-lot variety to which many other ski areas relegate beginners. The trails are wide and gentle but with just enough of a pitch to challenge novice snowriders. They are real confidence builders. The Red, Buttercup, and Daisy chairs provide access to these trails and are located to the left of the lodge as you look up the mountain.

First-timers will also enjoy The Zoo, one of three terrain parks at Meadows. The Zoo is designed specifically for novice snowriders and consists of rolling terrain, small banked turns, and miniature jumps. The area is also home to a novice halfpipe, constructed with the first-time piper in mind. Skiers and snowboarders alike are welcome in The Zoo. The Blue Chair, the Mount Hood Express, and the Yellow Chair also provide access to novice terrain. For long cruising runs, take the Mount Hood Express and then head left to Ridge Run or right to North Canyon. Both trails wind back to the main lodge while offering wide, gradual descents - perfect for warming up stiff legs on the way to more challenging terrain. All six chairs are lit for night skiing. And since Meadows is so close to Portland, many snowriders make the mid-week trek to get in a few turns in the evening. Twenty-two runs and four lifts operate until 10 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.

Advanced intermediates should try North Canyon to Tillicum to Kinniknick to Skyway. This will take snowriders to the bottom of the recently installed Hood River Express. Combining the trails makes for a long, thigh-burning run. The base of the Hood River Express is actually lower on the mountain than the lodge area. When the weather's bad, head here to escape the wind and cold. During weekends this area tends to be less crowded than the area surrounding the lodges.

Intermediates can play almost anywhere on the mountain. From the Cascade Express, skiers and boarders can choose between the wide-open, above-treeline snowfields of Texas Flats or Catacombs. Oregon skiers voted Texas Flats the best intermediate skiing in the state because of its continuous fall line, which allows long, sustained, linked GS turns that seem to go on forever. The exceptional view from here is enough reason to take the run. Mount Jefferson, the Three Sisters Peaks, and Mount Bachelor rise up out of an ocean of clouds that roll in from the Oregon Coast at 4,000 to 5,000 feet.

Located on the other side of the Cascade Express, Marmot Ridge and Elevator are two of the tougher runs at Meadows. Both are above the treeline and are therefore exposed to the harsh winds that can whip across Mount Hood. The snow can be wind-packed crust, making it difficult to ski. On a calm day, though, with good snow conditions, both Marmot and Elevator are popular runs. Better get to them as soon as the Cascade Express opens, or the snow will be cut up quickly - especially on weekends.

In between lies Arena, a blue run. Not nearly as steep as Elevator or Marmot, Arena is a good challenge for strong intermediate skiers. In order to remain in this area and ride the Cascade Express again, catch Ridge Run to the bottom. For more adventure on the way down, take Cascade Skyway to Chunky Swirl - a ridge riddled with small lumps, bumps, and jumps. This trail is perfect for big sweeping airplane turns. Dropping into the other areas of the mountain means more than one lift back to the top.

The Cascade Express also takes snowriders to the Outer Limits. A short blue run, Outer Limits serves as a connector to the lower half of Heather Canyon - Meadow's franchise terrain. Completely ungroomed, the upper half is for experts only. But from the Outer Limits, strong intermediate to advanced snowriders can handle the small bowls in the lower half of Heather Canyon. None of the bowls here feature eye-popping steeps, but the experience is one for the books. Memorial, Twilight, Pluto, and Moon Bowl are wide-open runs free of trees and other obstacles. When the snow is soft - and it usually is in Heather Canyon - turns in this area are fast and forgiving. Even when the snow is cut up, snowriders still carve big sweeping arcs across the hill.

The snow in Heather Canyon stays fresh for long periods of time because the canyon walls protect the snow from too much direct sunlight. This makes the temperatures in the canyon fairly stable, which means the snow is less susceptible to the continuous melting and freezing cycle experienced by many Northwest mountains. Additionally, Heather Canyon acts like a natural wind tunnel. The winds blow up the Canyon at night and deposits snow in the bowls from top to bottom. Moreover, the wind acts as a natural grooming mechanism because it fills in tracks and mows them down. Even when Meadows hasn't seen snow for days, the Canyon is usually silky smooth and ready to be ripped.

Be forewarned: While the Canyon's lower half can be handled by most intermediates, the upper half is, indeed, for confident and strong expert snowriders. From the top of the Cascade Express, hang a soft right and traverse high on the trail. The map lists this traverse as Albert's Run. Albert's is riddled with rocks and ice, making the entrance a bit tricky. To gain even more vertical, hike roughly 15 minutes toward the ridge's high-point. Skiers and boarders can choose several entrances into the Canyon from here, all of which are a steep, 45-plus degrees. Confidence is at the top, then The Wall, Hot Rocks, Parachute, Way Out, and Super Bowl. While the entrances are steep, most of them are smooth. What makes them dangerous is that a fall here usually means a slide all the way to the bottom of the Canyon.

The best way to get the most turns out of the Canyon is to start high, make several turns, and then head to the skier's right for more turns. This is possible because each run/bowl is lower on the mountain. Make turns up high and then cut across to the next run, before bottoming out in the Canyon.

Snowriders can also stay high and cut across the Canyon to the other side and explore Low Lands, High Lands, Sunrise, and Hammer Bowl. From any one of these runs, drop into Heather Woods. Heather Woods is full of steep pitches usually filled with primo powder in early winter and lush, spring-like corn snow in the spring. Snowriders need to be fleet of foot, on their edges, and proficient at linking turns to ride these runs.

Skiing the Canyon is heavenly, but guests have been known to spend more time on the lifts than snowriding as it takes three lifts to reach the top, although two of these are highspeed quads.

Advanced snow riders have even more options if they are looking for beefy terrain. Take the Shooting Star Ridge to the left of the Shooting Star Express and drop into Absolute Magnitude. The trees in this area are fairly open and the fall lines are roughly 30 to 35 degrees. Farther to the right, however, the trees get tighter and the pitches grow steeper.

Lower on the mountain, jump into any one of six bowls accessible from the Mount Hood Express. Bowls One through Five are more like teacups jammed together side by side. Despite the bowls being small, the runs are steep, off-piste, and lit for night skiing. Cut through the trees at the top of any one of them for steep, short runs of powder or crud.

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