Jason Slezak at Mt. Hood Meadows Dec. 29.
MOUNT HOOD — In the midst of a major winter storm that has pummeled Mount Hood and dropped 13 feet of snow since the resort opened two weeks ago, Mt. Hood Meadows opened control access gates to double black diamond expert terrain on Dec. 29.
The gates to Elk and Yoda bowls, as well as Gods Wall, opened for the first time this season with a very strong warning from Meadows Ski Patrol — highly advising that all who enter follow deep snow safety procedures.
“Even with all of this prep work, the Private Reserve is still an avalanche area and it is strongly recommended that you ski with all of the following: A buddy, an avalanche transceiver, a probe and a shovel once we do open, which should be this week,” said Kelci Barnes, assistant manager, Meadows Ski Patrol.
Barnes said patrol encountered evidence of avalanche activity the past week as snow safety prepared the gates for opening, noting, “On Thursday, Dec. 23, we believe an avalanche occurred, based on seismic activity recorded near our resort and running through Clark Canyon, ending in a fairly massive debris pile at the bottom of Jack’s Woods.
“On Friday, Dec. 24, Ski Patrol began routes in the Private Reserve, and found widespread avalanches with deep, unconsolidated snow,” Barnes added. “We continued throwing explosives for the next five days while Mother Nature erased our efforts with more snowfall every night.”
Private Reserve and Heather Canyon are accessed through control gates so the terrain can be closed depending on conditions and during avalanche control work. Those who enter the terrain by ducking a ropeline or going through a closed gate will be suspended for the season.
Barnes said there is still a lot of work to do before Heather Canyon will open. “We need to fire our Howitzer to mitigate the avalanche hazard up high, we need to throw explosives on our bigger slide paths, the bridges to the Heather lift have to be built, and the lift has to be dug out, as it is currently under the snow.”
As of Dec. 30, Meadows had a snow depth of 80 inches in the base area (5,366 foot level) and 113 inches at mid mountain (6,250 foot level). Several feet of snow was forecast through the weekend with more in the 10 day forecast.
For more information, visit the resort website at SkiHood.com.
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