Mount Hood ski areas still lean on snow

Mount Hood Meadows will be open Friday through Sunday with three chairlifts and hopes to begin daily operations no later than Dec. 12.

The ski area announced today it will add the Mount Hood Express chairlift, a high-speed quad, this weekend. Other chairlifts will include Buttercup and Easy Rider plus the Ballroom Carpet conveyor.

Open hours will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Dave Tragethon, a Mount Hood Meadows spokesman, said the resort hopes this is the final preview weekend before daily operations.

Meadows has 11 inches of snow at its base and has been supplemented that amount by snow harvesting and snow making to accommodate the lower chairlifts.

There are 32 inches of snow at the 6,200-foot elevation near the top of Mount Hood Express.

More snow is on the  way.

“There is a significant amount of precipitation in this storm, that is forecast to dump a foot or two by the middle of next week,’’ Tragethon said. “That would provide us enough natural snow to commit to daily operations for the season, hopefully before Dec. 12.’’

Timberline Lodge has been operating two chairlifts — Pucci and Bruno’s — daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The lodge has a 17-inch snow base.

Mount Hood Skibowl will be open for tubing from Friday night through Sunday.