Mt. Hood still busy with summer skiing
Just a short drive from Central Oregon ski racers, competitive snowboarders and winter lovers flock to Mt. Hood during the summer months. This ski resort is the only one in the nation that can provide year-round skiing and snowboarding.
Jon Tullis of Timberline lodge said it’s because “the Palmer Snow Field technically isn’t a true glacier, because it’s not a moving body of ice. But it’s a remnant of a glacier with a permafrost base that essentially functions like a refrigerator.”
The mountain is open to the public every month they have snow, but the main summer business is ski and snowboard camps, much like Mt. Bachelor hosts. These camps allow athletes to continue to work on their skills all summer long.
“Because of the long break between the end of the season, now and then the beginning of the next season, it’s almost a separate season in itself,” said Mike Annet of Mt. Hood Ski Camps. “When you get back on snow next winter, your body remembers what you learned.”
Campers of all ages travel from around the world to train at camps like Mt. Hood Ski Camp, which trains skiers and snowboarders during the summer months.
Summer camp High Cascade is the only all-snowboard camp on the mountain, and it draws hundreds of determined athletes every summer.
High Cascade camper Roy Purdy is returning to camp for his third year. He said he loves coming to Mt. Hood for camp in the summer, because it is one of the only places you can snowboard throughout the summer months.
“Our mission is life improvement through snowboarding and skateboarding,” said High Cascade Co-Owner Kevin English. “We really think that snowboarding is just a vehicle for improving their lives, for setting goals and for achieving those goals.”
High Cascade and the other Mt. Hood summer camps have helped young athletes do just that over the years: reach goals, and even become mentors.
“Pat Moore is one of the riders who’s come out of here as a young camper,” said English.
“Julia Mancuso, who was medaled at the Olympics in Vancouver, was a camper when she was 12,” Annet said.
Many accomplished athletes continue to use Mt. Hood as their summer training ground, as they get ready for their next winter season — and for some, the 2014 Winter Olympics.
