Some great Mount Hood reading
Fans of Mount Hood and the written word have much to be thankful for with the release of three (that I know of) new books this year.
One’s from a true fan of Timberline Lodge who writes about how the lodge and the mountain have taught her valuable life lessons.
Another’s from a hardcore skier who’s skied from the summit of Mount Hood more than 300 times.
And the third is from a seasoned search-and-rescue veteran who’s saved more than a few lives on Hood and who knows some of the best tales from the mountain’s storied and adventurous past.
All are highly recommended.
In Timberline’s Embrace: What an Old Lodge Taught Me About What’s Worth Keeping – Jean L. Waight.
This one came to me randomly about a year ago when Jean Waight, a Bellingham, Washington-based writer reached out to me in search of a blurb for her book all about her many years of escapes to Timberline Lodge. A huge fan of the lodge myself, I was fully on board from the get-go. She captures the lodge’s charm, what it’s like to have the place to yourself late night and how the wildness of the mountain is never far away.
Here’s the blurb for her book:
“As a fellow Timberline Lodge enthusiast, I connected with Jean Waight’s intriguing tales of the lodge and her time on the mountain. Timberline is the kind of place where you feel as if you alone are experiencing its singularity and creating new memories just for yourself. And yet at the same time, you want to share Timberline with everyone so they, too, can appreciate its unique grandeur. Waight’s book captures those sentiments and so much more.”
11,239: A Skiing and Snowboarding Guide from the Summit of Mount Hood – Asit Rathod
I’ve heard about Asit Rathod for many years. He’s a bit of a legend when it comes to Mount Hood, skiing from its summit and pioneering the annual solstice party at Illumination Rock.
For many years, there’s been talk of a book – part guidebook, part personal recollections – about the seven major ski descents from Hood’s summit mixed with some of Asit’s wilder stories. This year, the book finally came to fruition – with the help of a good friend and fellow writer of mine, Ben Jacklet, who has long been an advocate for Asit making the book a reality.
Skiing from the top of an 11,000-foot mountain is beyond my comfort zone, but for those who aspire to – or can – pull it off, Asit’s book is the place to start.
Crisis on Mount Hood: Stories from 100 Years of Mountain Rescue – Christopher Van Tilburg
I’ve interviewed Christopher Van Tilburg, a Hood River-based physician and backcountry adventurer, a few times over the years, including when his book, “The Adrenaline Junkie’s Bucket List: 100 Extreme Outdoor Adventures to Do Before You Die,” came out in 2013. He’s written 12 books, climbed, hiked and skied all over, and works for both Portland Mountain Rescue and the Hood River Crag Rats.
I first tried to buy this latest book at one of my favorite bookstores in the Gorge, Waucoma Bookstore, back during a Father’s Day spent on the mountain, but they were sold out. My son, Spence, and I returned last week and they had them – autographed copies at that – in stock. Stoked to get into it.
Andy Poorman and the Mt. Hood Podcast
Mount Hood is such an iconic mountain, full of so many adventures and stories, personalities and people, history and natural beauty, that someone has to have dedicated a podcast to it by now.
Right?
One would assume. But one would also be wrong.
Until recently, there hasn’t been a podcast focused on Oregon’s tallest and, arguably, most significant peak. But as of just about a year ago, that changed.
In February 2024, Andy Poorman, a Beaverton native who grew up skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows and Skibowl, launched the Mt. Hood Podcast, an entertaining and engaging podcast that’s so far covered everything from the iconic Charlie’s Mountain View and the Meadows avalanche dogs to Mt. Hood weather and renowned French skier and B.A.S.E. jumper Matthias Giraud, who skied off Hood’s 250-foot tall Mississippi Head cliff in 2008.
“I listen to a lot of podcasts when I’m out running or cycling,” says Poorman, who sprinkles a little humor into the podcast with fake ads designed to steer listeners clear of powder days at Skibowl. “I was looking for one about Mount Hood and I couldn’t find one. So I was like, ‘OK, well, I can try this thing.’ So I started it, and it’s been really fun to be able to have an excuse to talk to people. And if you say you’ve got a podcast, people will actually answer your email sometimes.”
Poorman’s wife bought him a copy of “On Mount Hood” for Christmas last year, which prompted him to reach out to me for the podcast. We chatted for an episode last week, then finished up with a short Q&A to find out more about Poorman, the podcast, his time as a fighter pilot and his affinity for skiing on Mount Hood.
So a podcast on Hood seems like a great idea. How’s it going so far? It’s been a great passion project for me to learn more about the mountain, and it’s nice that I can put that information out there for other people. And I actually have had a couple second-order effects, like I’ve started to work with the Mount Hood Cultural Center & Museum. Just this last weekend I did my first recording of an oral history of one of the long-term residents up there. There are some people who have lived up there a long time who know a lot about the area, and so I’m sitting them down and recording it, and then the museum will have those oral histories in their archives.
You started skiing on Hood pretty early. Yeah, in the fifth grade. I think my parents were trying to get my brother and I out of the house, so they put us on the ski bus. We started skiing every Sunday in the wintertime. And I mean, it hit with me instantly. I started at Meadows and then, you know, kind of bounced around between Meadows and Skibowl depending on where the bus was going.
Are you also a climber or hiker, or is skiing your thing? Skiing’s my thing, so if I need to walk so I can ski, I’m willing to do that, but walking just for walking doesn’t seem fun to me. I’ve got alpine touring gear, so usually I’ll try to go up the mountain on that if I can. But just walking up the mountain and skiing down, I’m getting too old for that. I’ve summited Hood a few times, but it was just more because I was with someone who wanted to go to the top. It’s gotta be pretty good conditions to ski the Old Chute (near the summit), so typically I’ll just stop at Crater Rock or maybe the Hogsback and just ski down from there.
The podcast has an amazing photo of two F-15s flying past Mt. Hood. Can you share a little about your time as an Air Force pilot and how that photo came about? I went to Oregon State and then went off and did some time in the Air Force. I did two combat tours, one before the second Gulf War when there was a no-fly zone, and then I switched to the F-15E model and went back after the second invasion and was there for three months. It was pretty quiet and we weren’t really doing much. And then there were just lots of deployments all over the place before I got offered a job back in Portland flying the same airplane. The picture for the podcast, there are two F-15s going by Mount Hood. We were coming back from the Boardman Range, and we actually had a camera in the airplane, which is pretty rare, and a little extra gas. So I’m like, ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea.’ So me and another guy are flying formation and the third F-15 was taking our picture. It’s pretty stunning.
Photo courtesy of Andy Poorman
So where can people find the podcast? Just about anywhere. On Apple, it’s on Spotify. It’s pretty much on all of them, but Buzzsprout is where it lives. (Poorman and a friend have also created a website, trailmapvideos.com, where visitors can find video footage of many of the runs at Skibowl and also a link to the Mt. Hood Podcast.)
Anything else you’d want to get out there? Sure. The Mt. Hood Cultural Center & Museum has really lowered their standards and they’ve got me as a guest speaker on February 15 for one of their Social History Happy Hours. We’re going to be talking about the oral histories that we’re doing and the podcast as well. We’re trying to figure out some collaborations to get the word out for everything they’re doing up there.
Mount Hood Gifts for 2019
It’s been a Christmas or two since I’ve updated this list of great Mount Hood gifts for mountain enthusiasts out there, but here’s the 2019 iteration, complete with some old favorites and some new additions:
- On Mount Hood: A Biography of Oregon’s Perilous Peak — Shameless, I know, but sometimes that’s just the way the world works. You can find it at Powell’s, Annie Bloom’s, Broadway Books and most other local bookstores. Here’s a list of stores outside of Portland, and you can always find it online at Powell’s, Abe Books, Biblio and Amazon.
- Code 1244: The 1986 Mount Hood Tragedy — Speaking of great Mount Hood books, this one from Portland-area author Ric Conrad recounts the tragic climb of the mountain by a group of students from the Oregon Episcopal School. You can read more about the book and see some great photos in this post, and buy it on Amazon.
- A Mount Hood pint glass — One of the coolest Mount Hood gifts in recent years is the Oregon Pint, a hand-blown pint glass from North Drinkware that has Mount Hood molded into its base. At $48, they’re not cheap, but they sure are cool.
A former Portland Tribune colleague of mine, Ben Jacklet, co-founded Shred Hood in 2013 as a community news and information site to cover the skiing, snowboarding and backcountry on Mount Hood.
Subscriptions come in a couple different options, including one-time and ongoing. Each has its privileges, including a sweet T-shirt and bottle opener depending on your subscription.
Find out more at Shred Hood.
- A donation to Oregon Wild or Bark —
Feeling a little more philanthropic this holiday season? Consider making a donation to some of the environmental groups that have worked — and are always working — to protect the region’s wild places, including, of course, Mount Hood. (Bark’s mission is more Mount Hood-centric, while Oregon Wild covers the entire state; both have played major roles in protecting Mount Hood and the Mount Hood National Forest.)
For more information about either of these groups, visit www.bark-out.org or www.oregonwild.org.
- Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Lidar Map of Mount Hood — DOGAMI released this double-sided, water-resistant map a couple years ago. It includes 75 trails around Mount Hood, wilderness areas, roads, campgrounds, information for climbers and hikers, and a geologic overview. Just $6 at Nature of the Northwest.
- Timberline Lodge Ram’s Head Fire Poker — Fashioned after the larger fireplace tools used at the storied Timberline Lodge, this hand-forged wrought iron poker is classic Timberline through and through. I met Darryl Nelson, the blacksmith behind much of the ironwork that’s been installed at Timberline over the past 30 years or so, and he told me guests regularly try to heist these out of the rooms. Not good. Instead, find them at the Timberline gift shop for $80. The shop also has a nice array of vintage-looking posters and artwork, books, souvenirs and more. Check it out.
On Mount Hood at the Lake Oswego Library
This weekend, looking to drum up some early holiday cheer while also focusing on local creativity, the Lake Oswego Public Library is hosting Keeping It LOcal.
Held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, the event will bring 20 local authors and illustrators together to share their work, both in conversation and in commerce. Among the authors scheduled to be there: Brian Doyle, who’s book, Mink River, is one of my favorite Oregon books of all time, and Scott Sparling, whose great book, Wire to Wire, is set in a northern Michigan locale that I know and love.
I’ll be there with On Mount Hood, too.
Doggie Dogs at Timberline Lodge
In his 11-plus years with me, Oliver has been all over Mount Hood:
Along the Sandy River . . .
Up to Paradise Park . . .
Through the snow of White River . . .
All the way around the mountain on the Timberline Trail, up to McNeil Point and right up to the icy chill of Dollar Lake.
But the one place he’s never been allowed to come along so far is Timberline Lodge. Save for the quasi-resident St. Bernards, Heidi and Bruno, Timberline has largely been off-limits to the four-legged among us.
Not any more.
Though they’re not yet marketing it full-on, Timberline has modified its pet policy to allow some rooms to be pet-friendly. At present, you have to call to get more information, but it is now an option, according to Jon Tullis, the lodge’s director of public affairs.
If he could understand that, I’m sure Oliver would be thrilled.
OMH Halloween Edition: Timberline Lodge and The Shining
It’s Halloween, a great day for watching Stanley Kubrick’s classic adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, The Shining. It is a great and eerie film that within the first few minutes spotlights a couple famous Oregon landmarks — Mount Hood and Timberline Lodge.
It’s a fleeting glimpse, though, because other than the brief glance of the mountain, the lodge and a couple other minor exterior shots, there wasn’t much of the movie filmed on Mount Hood. Instead, most of it was shot at London’s Elstree Studios using massive sets, sound stages, and a full-size mockup of the lodge’s exterior.
No matter though. All it took was that short little cameo to forever brand Timberline Lodge as the Overlook Hotel from King’s book. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.
The Shining (and some other books…) in the gift shop at Timberline Lodge.
One other interesting fact about The Shining at Timberline Lodge: in the novel, room 217 of the Overlook Hotel is a haunted one, tainted by scandal and suicide. Rather than spook guests who might have ended up in room 217 at Timberline, the filmmakers were asked to change the room number in the movie to one that didn’t exist at Timberline. That’s why, in the movie, little Danny Torrance asks, “Mr. Hallorann, what is in Room 237?” — not 217.
On MOUNT HOOD 