Wax your boards and sharpen your edges. Ski season returns to Mount Hood this weekend. Photo: Craig Tuttle/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Ski season is getting an early start in Oregon with one of the region's biggest resorts set for a limited opening on Friday.
Driving the news: Mt. Hood Meadows announced it will kick off the season with a limited number of lifts open for a "preview weekend" on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Timberline Lodge ski area also got its lifts spinning over the past holiday weekend and is open daily.
Zoom in: The resort said they will be running lifts on the south side — Buttercup, Easy Rider, and Daisy, as well as the Ballroom Carpet conveyor — from 9am to 4pm over the three-day stretch.
Officials with the resort said they'll reevaluate conditions by the middle of next week to determine when Meadows will fully open.
Context: Meadows has received nearly 50 inches of snow so far this year, with 9 inches falling between Monday and Tuesday afternoon with more in the forecast.
With an expected "weak" La Niña winter — when ocean temperatures are cooler than normal — the Pacific Northwest could be in for a winter cooler and wetter than average, which would be good news for ski resorts.
What they're saying: Greg Pack, general manager at Meadows said Friday's opening will be is the earliest they've started spinning lifts in 15 years.
"It's such an incredible position to be in to be able to open ahead of schedule, and we're excited to kick off what's sure to be another amazing season of skiing and riding," he said in an emailed statement.
