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Mt. Hood Skibowl
Category: Hotels & Travel Ski Resorts Ski Resorts [Edit]
Government Camp87000 E Hwy 26
Mt Hood, OR 97028
(503) 272-3206
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
20 reviews for Mt. Hood Skibowl
20 reviews in English
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Review from Brandon T.
Portland, OR
11/4/2011 1 Check-in Here
My experience consisted of empty runs and good snow on a nice sunny saturday morning. I could use wider skis for the backcountry but it was still a blast and tracks were made nonetheless. I found the Skibowl to not be crowded at all in the upper lift and it seems to be the closest park to Portland, so that is a boon.
Be warned that when you buy a $49 lift ticket, you should also get the $5 parking pass . If you don't get this pass then you risk getting a $30 fine from the over zealous meter-maids.
Overall the Skibowl is a pretty worthy park to venture out to for a few runs. It might not have a huge selection but it is hard to argue with short lines and good snow. -
Review from alicia k.
Ski Bowl is definitely a good option for families on a budget. There is a variety of activities to do and you can add different options to your package. The tubing is pretty fun and there is a smaller area with a belt to get you and your tube up the hill with little effort.
The skiing is pretty decent. The lifts are a bit old, but there are some really good long runs on the green trails for those that are ski novices. There is also an indoor playscape (extra charge) and snowmobile rides for kids ($5). The snowmobile rides are for really young kids because they only drive in a small circle and go slow. My kids remembered from a couple years ago that it was no fun.
The outside of the lodge was small and very charming; however, this is not the kind of lodge that you would want to linger around. The inside was filled with picnic style tables and everyone hovering and squeezing tightly to be near the fire. I saw too many strangers' bare feet for my comfort.
The food was absolutely awful, definitely not worth the amount they charged. We had an unedible burger that tasted like the school cafeteria's. All the other foods were just edible. Food here is for nourishment, not enjoyment.
The location is convenient if you are staying in Government Camp and a family can ski without breaking the bank. -
Review from T M.
Portland, OR
1/24/2012
Ski Bowl is really for everyone and all types of skiers. We've been skiing here for our whole lives and love it!! It's close to Portland, it has a great variety of terrain for all levels of skiing. It's less hectic than the big resorts and that's what so great about it. And, their calendar is filled with fun activities, likes the pond skimming, fireworks on Saturday night, etc. We always have so much fun skiing here, and the people are so nice. Plus, you can get a great burger!!!
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Review from Faye m.
1/5/2011 1 Check-in Here
Skibowl East: Fun for tubing, especially with their tube lift thing! There were 2 tube runs when we were there: the one closest to the top of the tube lift - you pretty much go down in a straight line; but it's a steep hill, so you go down fast.
The other tube run is a bit more farther past the first tube run, with stairs carved out of the snow/ice - be careful: it's super slippery!! There's one row with a ramp, so you fly off pretty high after you hit it. I chickened out, but my (8 year old!) nephew did it and bit his lip pretty hard when he hit the ramp!
There's also skiing and snowboarding, mini snowmobiles for the kids, and of course a cafeteria style eatery on the main floor of the lodge; bathrooms and "brown bag" eating area downstairs; and a bar on the 3rd floor (thankfully, it's "adults only"!) -
Review from Sarah C.
11/28/2010 16 Check-ins Here
Oh man so glad for snow on the mountain! This was my first experience at Skibowl & I liked it pretty well especially since I bought my season pass for only $97!!
I'm used to the lifts at Meadows so it was a bit of a surprise for me when we rode up the ever-so-slow, old school chairlifts! It's nice the poles are numbered though so riders have an idea where they're at in line before they reach the top. Or, maybe it's not so good to know how much longer the waits going to be. :-/
This was the second day of the season just after 3:00pm & it was crowded. A lot of waiting at the lift so the mountain was bare at times. It was pretty awesome to practice my S curves as wide I wanted, goof around with friends & tumble a few times without having to worry about others around or too close to me.
Night boarding is fantastic! It's pretty cold but it's a lot of fun! Also look at the sky (recommended only while resting on the mountain) & take in the sparkling stars! We don't get to see that or notice it very often when living in Portland. It's a beautiful view!
This is a nice part of the mountain & I'm glad it opened earlier than usual. Supposedly it doesn't get very crowded here & I'm presuming that's later in the season, so for $97 I think I'm happy with Skibowl & what it has to offer. -
Review from Raymond U.
Portland, OR
1/10/2011
A friend and I decided to do some night boarding and chose Skybowl over Timberline for a few of reasons.
1. I never have been to Skibowl
2. Its closer
3. Don't have to chain up (I hate chaining up)
Parking lot was very busy, and small, had to drive around a little to find a spot. The rest area is a very small room with some cafeteria benches. They appear to have two restaurants, but I did not get a chance to check them out. (Maybe next time) Board and ski check is not free like it is at Timberline but they also appeared to be open until closing, which I believe Timberline does not offer.
Wow the lift were very busy, this is not necessary a bad thing just means there are about 100 other people decided hell with chaining up to get to Timberline. The snow was icy, so crashing was not an option I told myself.
Overall I had a great time, the resort is closer and I did not have to put on chains. I would have to say for price and location, Skibowl is a great option. If you drive a car or something that you would normally have to chain up or you are just in a hurry and want to hit the slop SkiBowl is definitely a great option.
-Úlfr -
Review from Nathan B.
Seattle, WA
9/8/2010 1 photo
This review is for our summer time experience at Ski Bowl.
We went up to check out the Adventure Park and kill an afternoon. There are 2 sections of the Adventure Park, and both are worth checking out. I will break this out into sections based on the order of our activities.
The Alpine Slide rocks. 5 stars for sure and worth every penny. You ride the chairlift up and then luge down the plastic track at warp speed - so much fun! One tip though - if you are adventurous, take the Expert track, wait a full minute behind the person in front of you, then drop the hammer. I did this technique and still caught up with the guy in front of me. Which brings me to another point - if you are not a daredevil, take the beginner track and don't slow people up.
After the Alpine Slide we hit the bar at the base for a Jager shot-ski and a round of beers before heading across the highway for more adventure.
Up next - go karts! Don't worry, we only had 2 drinks, no drunk driving on that track! Besides, those carts are pretty slow. You can drive the track with the pedal all the way down the entire time. I would save the money and skip it the next time.
Batting cages! We had 10 mid-20's guys in a contest of strength and brawn. And only one of us got a decent hit of the fast ball machine. Balls were coming in hot at over 90 mph.
And back we went to Portland. It was definitely a fun afternoon and I'd say give it a shot if you have the time! -
Review from Jenny L.
3/11/2010
Take aside the ghetto jankiness, this is actually a pretty nice resort.
There's no one else there. You can have the mountain all to yourself. Fall as many times as you want without anyone laughing at you. Make giant S curves as you carve without worrying if you're going to bump into anyone.
This place is obviously awesome for night boarding. But I'm a chicken and I get cold quite easily. So I sipped a beer while watching others come down the slopes with indoor comfort.
Some trails aren't groomed overnight, so you hit powder patches once in a while and then you lose all momentum. Don't you hate when that happens?
I don't like digging myself out of powder =/Listed in: Mountain, Slopes, Resorts…
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Review from Danielle K.
Portland, OR
8/10/2008
Um, yeah.
I don't ski.
I am not an outdoorsy person.
But I could definitely see myself enjoying a good sled and some hot cocoa at Ski Bowl during the winter. Now, then, I've only been here during the summer. And on a nice day, it can definitely be a playground for both children and adults alike. They've got a SWEET Alpine Slide that is just so much fun! You ride about halfway up the mountain in the ski lift, and when you get off, there's a long and swervy slide that you toboggan down the mountain. It's not as scary as it looks! They also have go carts and I think miniature golf.
Anyway, so when I went yesterday with the fam, it ended up raining (it's Oregon, so what did we expect?). And it was cold, but I think it normally is up there. And due to the inclement weather, they closed the slide down. Boo! And the catering for the event that we were at was lacking indeed. Everything was cold. I get that it is cold outside for a barbeque, but at least put the food under warmers or something.
Needless to say, it could have been a dismal time. And it kind of was, considering it took us a good hour or so to drive out there. But the staff was way cool, and since everything was rainy and shut down, they gave us another day ticket to come back again this summer when it's actually nice.
And, I mean, this would be a sweet place to go sledding. And I hear they do skiing at night. How awesome is that?! -
Review from Gusty S.
San Francisco, CA
11/29/2007
I haven't been to ski bowl since1999, but I had some great times here. It's cheaper, closer, and when the snow is there it can even be more fun than it's two larger neighbors. It's situated so that it gets plenty of snow, but is sheltered from the wind most of the time.
I remember we used to always sneak around the edges in the roped off areas, there was almost always nice deep powder there even if there wasn't any elsewhere. Not sure how strict they are now, but no one ever hassled us back then.
It never was a place for advanced or extreme stuff, but it was always a great place for a mellow day of just riding. Enjoy it for what it is. -
Review from Joe C.
Pasco, WA
9/23/2007
We headed up in late September for the summer adventure activities and a little mountain biking. The summer side of the resort opens up the mountain for biking, hiking, horseback riding, etc. Skibowl has installed an Alpine Slide (think bobsled lite), zipline, bungee tower, reverse-bungee tower, go karts, some bungee-enhanced trampolines, a summer tube slide, batting cages, a climbing wall, and a few other things.
Skibowl is a well kept resort and the staff were all very friendly and helpful. The west side (biking, alpine slides) opens an hour earlier than the east side (karts, etc.). Parking is ample and there are some restaurants and shops in nearby Government Camp. The views of Mt Hood are stunning.
The alpine slides were a lot of fun for the whole family. There isn't any learning curve and you can go fast or slow. It takes about 15 minutes to do a lap from top to bottom if the crowds are modest.
We moved to mountain biking. I should have known what we were in for when I saw some of the rigs - 98% big travel, gravity-driven monster MTBs. On the 3 trails we did as a family, there were lots of big rocks and loose surfaces - most of which are uneven. If you go, bring a helmet. Anyone with a full-suspension bike should be able to trail ride at a reasonable pace, but front/no-suspension bikes are at a definite disadvantage. I made one trip to the top and was greeted with 200' of the roughest rock-infested trail I had ever attempted. After that, things were fine. Anyone expecting forest service roads will be disappointed.
The bungee tower, reverse bungee, and zip line all have a 240 lb weight limit and they will weigh you. They advertise the tower as 100', but I would bet more like 60'. We all enjoyed the zip line. The bungee and reverse-bungee were over very quickly.
The go karts are set up in part of the parking lot and as a result, offer a fairly tepid kidney-shaped short track. The batting cages and climbing wall are just fine.
The food was reasonable and the fries were pretty awesome. They have a good beer selection as well.
All in all, we were a little underwhelmed with the visit and the value. $59/person for the 'do it all' pass is pretty steep in my opinon, although they do offer a lite version for about $40 - but no bungee, karts, zip line. Many of the attractions have a county fair feel - but without the carnies and midway games. Mountain biking isn't really very family oriented - unless you are all big-air, big suspension, junkies. We had two minor crashes, but no real injuries.
If the do-it all pass was $40, I'd go 3-4 stars pretty handily. If the biking offered more family trails, that could easily bump the rating for me. Would we go back? Probably not as a family. I'd go back again and ride my bike, but probably skip the attractions. If you have a split crew where some want to bike and others want to run around playing, then you could have a winner.
Again, the people were great and the facilities were very nice. The views were great. We were hoping for a little more all things considered. If you want to test your 'extreme' nature in a pretty mild environment, Skibowl can deliver the goods. -
Review from Kevin D.
Portland, OR
8/29/2010
This is a review of the summer adventure park at Ski Bowl. Not the winter activities.
Have been there twice and would not go again. Frankly the rides are overpriced and underwhelming. $59 / person all rides pass is steep and only gives you one go on the premium rides. $15 for one ride on the zip line? Come on. Many of the rides are really fairground type rigs which are on permanent station at Skibowl. The alpine slide looks cool but there are only two lanes which means you can really only go as fast as the person in front.
This place has great potential but the operator is really asking too many $$$ for the quality of the rides. -
Review from Greg W.
Portland, OR
Updated - 3/19/2009
Ski Bowl definitely has a unique feel with old school chairlifts and crusty lift operators that double as carnies in the summer.
This is the largest night-ski resort in North America and thus is a favorite place to head for turns after work. The fact that it is 15-20 minutes (depending on road conditions) closer to PDX than the other two resorts on Hood helps.
The Bowl features the best terrain on Mt. Hood for the advanced rider. The upper bowl can produce some good thrills (especially when lit up at night), but the Outback is where Ski Bowl really shines. There really is some expert terrain back there - do not venture out there alone!
The main drawback to Ski Bowl is the elevation - it sits much lower than Hood Meadows and Timberline thus it is usually the last resort to open and the first to close. It also gets more rain that the other two resorts.
Adding to the cool feel of this hill is the little pub at mid-mountain. They serve Pilsner Urquell and other fine European beers that you can drink while relaxing to a blazing wood fire.
Buttercup the cat usually sits on the stairs and wags his tail while watching the patrons reminisce about their latest adventures. Good times.Listed in: Oregon Snowboarding
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3/18/2009
Ski Bowl definitely has a unique feel with old school chairlifts and crusty lift operators that… Read more »
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Review from Kari O.
Portland, OR
10/22/2008
This mountain is cut for a snowboarder! There are very few 'run-outs' or flat spots. Meaning you can ride from the top to bottom of the mountain without ever having to stop, unstrap and walk (which CANNOT be said about Meadows).
Thursdays are Ladies Night. Best $13 bucks you'll spend for an evening of sheer bliss.
Plan on stopping in the bar for an order of Nachos. They are so huge, you'll want to invite a few (cute) strangers over to help you. -
Review from Rob V.
Beaverton, OR
1/2/2010
1) their website said the temp was 28 (snow) but was actually 35 (rain).
2) no tow rope and they only took $1.00 off. That is ridiculous. It took a lot more time to walk = less tubing.
3) we paid for 2 hours but only got 1.5 hours because they start the time @ the top of each hour. Our other option was to stand aroud in the rain for 30 minutes.
4) you have to wait for staff to release you down the hill... When they aren't chatting amongst themselves.
Do yourself a favor, buy a sled and find a free hill. -
Review from Loree B.
Seattle, WA
7/29/2010
Being my first time there, and in the summer, and finally just realizing that they run the Alpine Slides in the summer, it was a thrill. I didn't realize they had all of the activities for the summertime as well, and it is such a fun time. My fiance & I enjoyed testing out the slides, though I know it takes some practice to get the right speed so that you don't end up slowing down too much or stopping. We are definately taking the kids next time, it would also be cool to do it in the winter!
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Review from Mak H.
Portland, OR
1/10/2009
Good night skiing, close to Portland. Easy to get to. Slow lifts, but there is some decent tree skiing. Make sure to wear/buy clear or yellow lenses for your goggles - you can't have as much fun here night skiing if you can't see in low light conditions... They have a lot of runs open at night, but very few lights. I probably won't ski here during the day most of the "black diamond" runs would be blue squares on a lot of mountains. Some fun looking cliff drops, but the crusty hard pack wasn't inviting for large drops last night...
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Review from Kristina K.
Portland, OR
12/21/2008
Yay! We're a fan for their night skiing. We probably won't return for day skiing, though, more on that later.
Love the fact that you have a variety of runs and chairlifts to choose from, especially at night. We went on Friday night, on December 19, 2008. The snow was coming down the whole time - perfect powder conditions to top! We noticed that on almost all runs, but one, that the run flattens out and then you have to somewhat climb or shuffle to the chairlift line. This manuver can be tedious and annoying for our snowboard friends. It was a bit annoying for us skiers to do this work, but managable because of the ski poles. Also, we wish the runs had a bit more vertical. We're going to have to get used to the older (slow) chairlifts, but probably difficult to deal with if the weather was any colder or windier. In all honestly, not much to complain about because we think this is the only night skiing place on Mt. Hood and that have enough runs to choose from - that's enough cause for celebration! -
Review from Beth N.
12/4/2009
skibowls motto should be "no fatties" as their old lower bowl chairlift has a bar which separates the two seats. i am by no means a big person, but was afraid of the tight squeeze when i saw the approaching chair. big and tall dudes beware. because of the way this resort is situated it gets less snow and more shade which can create extremely icy conditions. i took my first run there today and heard the loud scraping of ice the entire way down. i quickly went to my car afterwards and headed over to timberline. luckily i have a fusion pass and i didn't waste any money. i felt bad for the people who had bought tickets for the day. i will be back for sure, once there is fresh snow.
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Review from Monica C.
Portland, OR
12/17/2009
Skibowl also provides lot of fun for families and other lovers of exciting winter activities like snow tubing, horse drawn sleigh rides, snowmobile tours and snowshoeing.
The Skibowl Snow Tube and Adventure Park is ground zero for winter fun, starting with the popular tube hill. The specially designed tubes are fast and comfortable. Riders can walk or ride to the top the main tub hill with Skibowl's automatic tube tow. People enjoy both the main tube hill and the Upper Tube Hill. Parents with youngsters can direct younger kids to the smaller toddler hill. Tubes can be rented for full day or two hours shifts, starting at $15 per adult, $10 for kids under three years old or 48" tall.
For those who don't mind some physical activity, snowshoeing is the perfect way to explore the beauty of the area. It's an ideal activity for the young and old. Or, for even more of a work out, try Nordics (cross country) skiing. Either way, you'll commune with nature in the quiet of the forest while enjoying great exercise.
X-C skies, snowshoes and poles can all be rented at Mt. Hood Adventure, the leading recreational outfitter in the Mt. Hood National Forest. It is located on the second floor of the nearly remodeled Ratskeller Building in the heart of Government Camp, just up the road from Skibowl. The experts there can direct you to the best trails for your group. You can also schedule a private guided tour or join one of Mt. Hood Adventures regularly planned snowshoe or Nordic excursions. Mt. Hood Adventure also serves as an Official Clackamas County Visitors Information Center so the staff can answer any question you might have about the area and provide maps and brochures. Stop by or call 503-272-3062 or visit them on the website: http://www.mthoodadven...
Snowmobiling requires much less effort, providing another great way to enjoy nature in the forest. Mt. Hood Adventure is also the first stop for snow mobile tours. It is the only operator with a permit to rent, deliver and give snowmobile tours at your choice of three starting points in the Mt. Hood National Forest: Frog Lake Sno-Park, White River East Sno- Park and Skyline Sno-Park. Expert guides will ensure a safe and exiting trip on your choice of winter day. If you have a driver's license, you can join the fun. Book four hour or full day trips for an exciting excursion deep into the forest. Contact Mt. Hood Adventure for pricing and availability.
