Mount Hood Offers Free Skiing and Snowboarding to Furloughed Federal Employees

Midweek skiing will be free for federal workers for as long as the shutdown lasts.

The sunny slopes at Mount Hood Meadows. (Brenda Emil/MountHoodMeadows)
By Elise Herron

It's a shitty time to be a federal worker. Working without pay, trying to fend off creditors, worried about finding health care or affording medications.

But there's free skiing and snowboarding at Mount Hood Meadows.

In an announcement yesterday, Mount Hood Meadows' V.P. of sales and marketing, Dave Tragethon, said, ""We would prefer that these dedicated employees were back at their jobs and getting our government working again. But in the interim, we would like to provide enrichment with a day on the mountain."

The offer is good Monday through Friday for any furloughed federal worker with a valid I.D. and will last as long as the government is shutdown.

Local federal workers can also rent free movies at Movie Madness and go to the zoo and Japanese Gardens for free.

Roughly 9,583 federal workers in Oregon, and 3,335 in Portland, are not receiving paychecks while the government is shutdown.

Related: Nearly 2,000 Federal Employees in Oregon Have Applied for Unemployment Benefits Since the Government Shutdown Began

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