Mt Hood Skibowl History

Mt. Hood Skibowl’s origin dates back to 1928, making the resort one of the oldest remaining ski resorts in the country. The ski area began as two separate resorts Skibowl and Multorpor. While Skibowl’s name was derived from the natural shape of it’s Upper Bowl, Multorpor’s name came from the combination Multnomah County, Oregon and Portland. The following is a brief timeline of the resort’s storied history.

1928 The famous Jump Hill on Multorpor Mountain was developed by Everett Sickler.

1929 The newly-formed Cascade Ski Club began holding competitions at Multorpor’s Jump Hill. The area gained national recognition after holding an official National Ski Association event.

1935 Work began on the Historic Warming Hut located on the shelf between Lower and Upper Bowl at Skibowl. It was completed in 1937.

1937 The first ropetow was installed at Skibowl by French Boyd. The Historic Mid-Mountain Warming Hut served as the bottom terminal and carried passengers halfway up Upper Bowl. Powered by an automobile engine, the tow was fast and riders held on with custom hooks. If you carried a gallon of gas to the top, you could ski for free.

1938 Raymond Hughes built Multorpor Mountain’s first rope tow. The tow was powered by a Dodge truck engine and operated on the run now called Raceway on Cascade Chair. The resort charged 5¢ per ride or $1 per day.

1946 The first Lower Bowl chair was installed by “Sandy” Sandberg. Built with wooden lift towers, the single chair ran from what’s now the Rental Shop up the west side of Skibowl’s Lower Bowl.

1949 The current Multorpor Lodge was built by George Beutler, who operated Multorpor’s ropetow at the time. Upper Bowl Chair. This new Riblet double chair was the first chair to use steel towers.

1961 The Multorpor Mountain Company erected the Multorpor Chair. It was the fastest, highest capacity, most advanced chair of its time. The A-frame addition to Multorpor Lodge was also built at this time.

1964 Carl Reynolds and Everett Darr bought Skibowl and the two resorts were joined under the name Multorpor Inc. 1965 Multorpor Inc. installed a Riblet double chair on Lower Bowl at the present location.

1966 Skibowl’s world-famous night lighting was installed.

1967 The Starlight Lodge was built.

1975 The current Upper Bowl chair was installed. The old Upper Bowl Chair moved to Skibowl East and became the Cascade Chair. Some of the towers from the old Upper Bowl chair are still in use today on the existing Upper Bowl Chair, a testament to the engineers of the day.

1980 Summer recreation began at Skibowl with the installation of the Alpine Slide.

1987 Kirk Hanna purchased Skibowl out of bankruptcy and formed H-Ski Corporation. He then makes major improvements to the resort by adding the 300 acre outback, cutting the Olympic Certified Reynolds Run and expanding the night skiing to 34 lit runs making Skibowl “America’s Largest Night Ski Area”. He also remodeled and reopened the Historic Warming Hut.

1988 Hanna also built upon the summer activities, adding mountain biking, Indy Karts, Miniature Golf, group functions, and some inflatable summer recreation.

1993 Skibowl purchased the first winch cat in the northwest, which enabled it to groom the steeps of Upper Bowl. They also add to summer attractions by putting in the 100′ Bungee Tower and adding several other activities.

1998 The Lower Bowl is completely rebuilt. Everything was replaced but towers and chairs. Upper Bowl also received a new drive, motor and additional towers to shore up what was the highest chairlift span in the northwest.

2005 Multorpor Chair and the Lower Bowl lift terminal are completely rebuilt, resulting in shorter rides, faster chairs and more seating. Also, the Rental Shop is remodeled and the bathrooms are finished at the Historic Mid-Mountain Warming Hut.

2006 A new Summer Tube Hill is added to The Adventure Park at Skibowl’s East side.

2009 Major renovation to the public areas and rest room facilities at Skibowl.

Cosmic Tubing

Cosmic Tubing at Mt Hood Skibowl

Check out the hottest snow party on the mountain! Cosmic Tubing is open Friday and Saturday nights and every night through holiday periods during the winter season.

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Upcoming Events

Fireworks Display at Mt Hood Skibowl

Check out Skibowl's upcoming events, including our Saturday Night Lights on Jan 19th,  4-F Rail Jam on Feb 1st, Tele Tuesday Feb 5th and the 4th Annual 80's Night on Feb 15th.

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Adventure Park

Happy kid snowtubing at Mt Hood Skibowl

Check out the Snowtubing and Winter Adventure Park! It's fun for the whole family, even toddlers! We've got tubing,an indoor heated playground, kids snowmobiles and more!

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Book before April 30 and receive last year's discounted rates. Plus early bookings receive preferrential event dates and locations. Contact our group sales representatives at groups@skibowl.com or at 503-272-3206, ext 1100, or submit an online request for proposal online.Specializing in...

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