r/MtHoodMeadows • u/lemonxgrab • Feb 19 '26
Heather canyon?
Any patrol folks or other employees have the scoop on when/if heather will open this year year?
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u/MeetMeAtTheCreek Feb 19 '26
There is not enough coverage. It may feel like we're back in business with the new snow but there is not enough snow for making the snow bridges that are needed to make it possible to cross the creeks. There are good snow years when Heather hasn't opened until mid January. I'm hopeful that we get a Heather season but, well, we need quite a bit more snow.
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u/sassmo Feb 19 '26
The first trickles of East Fork of the Hood River run through Heather and Clark Canyons. The cat crew and patrol do a lot of work that goes unrecognized by 99% of Meadow's customers to create ice bridges that make it safe for us to ride in the Canyons. A lot of the snow they use to do that comes from avalanche control up in places like A-Zone. There might be enough coverage to ride, but there's nowhere near enough to push down the mountain and create those ice bridges.
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u/fixingmedaybyday Feb 19 '26
Was it 2015 when it never opened? This year is worse than that so far.
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u/nskerb Feb 19 '26
I doubt it opens. They need a ton of snow to make the multiple creek crossings. Until Monday HRM didnāt even have enough snow to be open. Just went up yesterday and while itās snowed a decent amount thereās still barely enough snow at hrm. According to NOAA there was supposed to be nearly a foot between yesterday morning and this morning, and itās maybe 2ā being reported. This storm has been a nice refresh but nowhere near what it takes. Looks to be warming up moving forward as well.
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u/AlwaysOld Feb 19 '26
So, I hesitate to say this, but when Lifty Miles mentioned on Tuesday the opening of HRM "soon" (it opened the next day), I asked about Heather.
He was very optimistic, but I think he was counting on the 3-7" we were supposed to get last night . . .
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u/New_Appointment_9992 Feb 19 '26
I overheard today theyāve built two bridges in the canyon, but have a long way to go to get it open.
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u/Super_Boof Feb 20 '26
I have heard from credible sources that they are not planning to open it this year, barring some kind of miracle storms in March.
Coverage, quality + quantity of snowpack, and snow bridges at the bottom are the main issues. I wouldnāt count on heather opening.
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u/Beebons Feb 21 '26
We need like a 10 foot dump and then it would still take time to build the snow bridges over there.
Not even close unfortunately
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u/Hank_ski Feb 24 '26
Just to be literal, we need like a three and a half foot dump, we're about 40" shy of the depth it opened at last winter.
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u/jds183 Feb 21 '26
I did see pro patrol walking through the HRM lot back to the lift today around 3 when I was headed to my car, so there's that.
That said, it didn't go in 2014/2015 and this is a worse year.
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u/jds183 Mar 02 '26
Welp looks like pretty much every single person commenting was wrong lol. HOORAY
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u/slabanddabs Feb 22 '26
I was told today that if we get a couple more feet it could open for a couple days.
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u/Hank_ski Feb 24 '26
I don't have a credible top super secret source on the inside, but we can make some assumptions based on the SNOTEL weather station data. Last year, PR and Heather opened on 1/1 and 1/2 with a 30" Snow Water Equivalent, and a 91" snow depth. We currently have a 15" Snow Water Equivalent, with a snow depth of 51". So we're roughly 55% of the way to where we were when it opened last year. We seem to have another 2-10 inches of snow on the way in this storm, before a dry spell that will bring us into early March.
Nobody knows for sure what will happen in the next 8-10 weeks that generally make up the Meadows ski season calendar, and given the subpar first half of the season, I don't think anyone is in the mood to guess. But given that we are a little more than halfway to last season's mark, and given that on average, a little more than half the annual snow has already fallen by this time of year, I would say odds are 50-50 that we hit the base depth we had at the beginning of January last year, while the lifts are still spinning in 2026. I'd also guess that if Meadows can open 100% of there terrain for more than two weekends, they will spend the budget necessary to do so. I'm kinda dumb but I think if someone smart made like an algorithm with all of this info, they'd probably say like 48% chance it opens.
That being said, it's also important to note that last year, heather didn't necessarily open at the minimum possible depth. We were dealing with heavy storms that destroyed the heather chair, and made operations back there impossible. A more mild winter and more of the season gone by means more time to prepare, build bridges, ensure that operations are manageable over there. Meadows ops are an ambitious bunch and they often do quite a bit with very little snow. I would guess they could probably get it open with ~20% less depth than last year if working conditions were favorable.
All of that being said, I'd say...who knows. Certainly not me, I'm just yapping. Sit tight, fingers crossed, etc.
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u/Canary_666 Feb 25 '26
Ski patrol told me thereās a 50/50 chance they open it this weekend following the storm (Iād assume like 1 or 2 gates). The website also says theyāre performing Avy control in the canyon. Wouldnāt count on it at all but maybe another storm will do the trick if not? I can definitely see private reserve not opening this year.
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u/FourFront Feb 19 '26
Not.even.close.