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Mt. Hood Meadows won't just be up on the mountain anymore.
By this Labor Day—Sept. 7, for those who wear white year round—the ski resort plans to expand into Portland with an alpine lifestyle center called Altitude, at 1202 NW 17th Ave.
Mt. Hood Meadows already had an office there. But Altitude will now encompass an mountain store, a ski and snowboard service center, a ticket office for Mt. Hood Meadows and a place to hang out with a glass of beer or wine.
"Altitude is going to be somewhat of an extension of our retail presence," says Meadows spokesman Dave Tragethon, "but much more that that it's going to reflect and depict the mountain lifestyle people that live here are after."
In part this means serving up beer and wine on First Thursdays and hosting mountain artists and photographers, as well as offering drinks throughout its anticipated 11 am to 8 pm business hours to try to create a hangout for mountain lovers in the city.
But it will also act as a Portland resource center for mountain sportsfolk.
"Say someone is interested in getting footbeds for ski or snowboard boots," Tragethon says. "We can take measurements [in Portland], then produce stuff [on Mt. Hood] at our high-performance center and then ship it over. Or you can drop off equipment for tech or tuning and we'll ship up to the ski area. There will be an assortment of ski boots, snowboard boots for families, and rental equipment. You can set it up in Portland instead of on the mountain."
In part, this is a response to the unpredictable climate changes that have created two straight years of troubled snow seasons, with late starts, early closures at some resorts, and low snowpack levels. Mt. Hood Meadows ran a 118-day season in 2014-2015, but this was worse than in previous years.
"This is all part of our overall adjustment to become less dependent on big snow years," says Tragethon. "With the growth around our neighborhood, a lot of the apartment and condo complexes are attracting young millennial-age couples and urbanites who want a relationship with the mountain. We hope they'll come hang."
WWeek 2015