Industry News
Timberline Lodge, Oregon, is once again extending North America’s longest lift-served ski season, aiming to remain open through August 20. The announcement was confirmed by John Burton, Timberline’s director of marketing and public affairs, to POWDER.
Burton caveated that the August 20 date is a target, not a guarantee. “Sometimes we go a little longer, sometimes we go a little shorter,” he told POWDER, emphasizing that the final call will depend on weather and snowpack conditions.
Two lifts, the Magic Mile and Palmer, are open daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., providing access to the Palmer Snowfield. Due to extreme weather throughout the winter, the Palmer Chair does not operate. Frequent and heavy winter storms coat the lift towers in thick snow and ice. These storms often have wind speeds exceeding 100 mph and brutally cold temperatures, making de-icing the lift virtually impossible. In the spring, the Palmer Chairlift gets a full maintenance check to prepare it for summer operations.
While Timberline has historically operated into September, recent years have seen earlier closures due to changing snow conditions. The resort relies entirely on natural snowfall, with no snowmaking infrastructure. “It is the perfect example of climate change. We used to always stay open until Labor Day, but those days are long gone,” Gordon Garlock, a ski instructor at Timberline for 50 years, told SnowBrains. Timberline is unique because it has no snowmaking capabilities and relies solely on natural snow.
Timberline Lodge is the last outdoor ski resort in North America to offer lift-served skiing. If you still want to go skiing in the United States once Timberline closes, there will be only one place left: Big SNOW American Dream in New Jersey, an indoor ski facility open 365 days a year.
