Skibowl is a ski resort located by Mount Hood. In comparison to Timberline and Mount Hood Meadows, Skibowl has less trails and the difficulty is easier. Skibowl however, is closer to reach and it is about an hour away from Portland. Skibowl is splitted into Skibowl East and Skibowl West. Most of the trails are located at Skibowl West and Skibowl East has adventure park that has snow tubing and other things. Skibowl also offers season pass ticket and 2 different types of day lift ticket. For day lift ticket, you can choose to purchase lift ticket that is valid from open to 4PM or from 11PM to 7PM. Skibowl also has ski and snowboard rental of course just like other ski resort.
This weekend we decided to go to Skibowl to snowboard since the weather is sunny. We left Portland around 9AM and got to Skibowl around 10AM. The road condition in Mount Hood was good and isn't any snow on the ground. When we got to Skibowl, the parking lot was nearly full. We had o be very careful to not to hit the car on the side. Moreover, the parking fee is $6 if you don't have snow park pass.
The weather was really amazing on this day and there was a lot of people taking lessons. We went directly to take the lift to the Lower Bowl trail. When we were about to get off the lift, the person in front of us got his backpack tied up on the lift chair. This is extremely dangerous. If the guy is also tied up to the chair, he would be dragged away by the lift chair and potentially hurt himself. Thus if you are going to carry a backpack, make sure to put the backpack in front of you and make sure the backpack does not have any lose straps.
When we got up to the Lower Bowl, the weather at the top is a bit gloomy and there was a bit of hail. This did not stop us from doing snowboarding however! At the top of Lower Bowl, you can go right or left. Right side is green and right side is black. We took the green trail to the right. Going down the green trail, it will make a turn when it reaches the warming house. The warming house is at the middle of the trail for people to rest and there is also a rest room. It is at a very convenient spot for people coming down from the top of the mountain.
The Lower Bowl trail is a nice long green trail. It took us about 3 minutes to get to the bottom of the green trail. Since the bottom of the trail is very close to the lift, make sure to slow down when you get close to the bottom.
Overall, Skibowl is a nice place to go to for snowboarding. It is quite close and the trail is wide and not too difficulty. It is very suitable for beginners to learn ski or snowboarding.
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