North America Weekly Roundup #252
(Updated 31 July 2024) A comprehensive review of snow conditions, weather, and updates for North America's winter sports destinations.
Timberline Set to Close After Record-Breaking Nine-Month Ski Season
- Timberline on Mt. Hood, Oregon, remains the only open ski area in North America, set to close on August 22 after a record-long nine-month season.
- The Palmer snowfield at Timberline offers about 4 km of open slopes and a terrain park, with the best skiing conditions early in the morning due to warm temperatures.
- Timberline's continuous operation since last year makes it the only non-year-round ski area currently open in the Northern Hemisphere.
USA REPORT
Timberline (0/235 cm / 0/94”) on Mt Hood in Oregon remains the only centre open in North America and is now in the final month of its 2023-24 season, having announced August 22nd, just over three weeks from now, as its likely closing day. The center’s Palmer snowfield has about 4 km (2.5 miles) of slopes open, some reserved for team race training, and a terrain park to enjoy. It has been another mostly sunny, often warm week, with temperatures reaching the 60s and 70s Fahrenheit even at altitude, so as always, the best conditions have been early in the morning. Timberline has now been open for more than eight months, overtaking Arapahoe Basin in Colorado for the longest season in North America, and should make it to nine months, with only three months until the 2024-25 season starts there. Of the five ski areas currently open in the Northern Hemisphere, it is also the only non-year-round centre that has remained open since last year, with Switzerland’s Saas Fee having closed at the end of its 2023-24 season in April before reopening for its 2024-25 season earlier this month, while Timberline has just kept going the whole time.
USA FORECAST
There is no significant change in the forecast for the sunny skies and warm temperatures that have dominated conditions in Oregon for the past month or so. The freezing point is now well above the mountain tops, even overnight, with overnight lows in the high 30s Fahrenheit and daytime highs in the 60s or 70s, with the best conditions soon after dawn.
