Mount Hood on tour

Forest Service offers recreational events this winter

By Garth Guibord

The Sandy Post, Jan 12, 2010

Snowshoers tackle a trail with a view last year during a guided hike by the Forest Service.

contributed photo

Mount Hood has a bevy of resources: recreation, natural beauty and history among them. This winter, the Zigzag Ranger District will offer winter programming, including snowshoe tours, ski tours and tours of Timberline Lodge, featuring a smorgasbord of these treasure-troves.

“It’s really nice for folks who are coming up to the mountain who don’t have too much experience,” said Lawson Reif, interpretation and education specialist for the district.

The snowshoe tours are new this year and are offered at Trillium Lake and on the Glade Trail between Government Camp and Timberline Lodge. That’s the same route where, in 1951, the skyway tram between the two locations started.

“It was a little inefficient, but it was a cool novelty,” Reif said. “The Mount Hood area has kind of been the paradigm in a lot of ways for a lot of development and updates in the ski industry.”

The tours include a variety of other history, including how Mount Hood was where the first releasable ski binding was invented, the roots of ski jumping on the mountain and Timberline becoming the first four-season ski lift in the country, as well as information on natural elements, including trees, wildlife and geology.

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