Customer Reviews

Timberline and a Century of Skiing on Mount Hood

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Wow-This was so cool to flip through the pages and read the stories of all the people who have had special ties to Mt Hood and Timberline. Knowing some of the characters only made it more fun. I can pick up this book and virtually turn to any page and enjoy its content. I never knew so many important things and fun times happened in the ski industry at Mt Hood.

In a well-researched production, Jean Arthur interviewed an endless parade of folks who were involved in making history on Mt. Hood, and delved into thousands of pages of archived history. It's obvious that playing and working on the slopes of this Cascade volcano left the author thirsting for the background of how it became a world-famous winter recreational playground and the extent of its gifts to the evolution of skiing.

The book includes lots of little-known facts and keeps up a nice pace as it unfolds over a hundred years of recorded skiing on Mt. Hood. The exploits of early snow-play folks are interwoven with the development of lift-served summer skiing, experiments with various uphill conveyances, racing and jumping competitions, and the chronicles of the building, rescue and refurbishment of historic Timberline Lodge.

You'll encounter escapades with snowcats and crevasses, hilarious trail races, and the task of managing prodigious dumps of snow. Anecdotes about many of the world-class skiers and competitors who have played and trained on Mt. Hood's slopes are interlaced with some general history of the sport of skiing. Jean relates many first-hand stories, and the entire book is extremely well illustrated with photos from a number of collections and many items of related memorabilia.

Whether or not you've personally sampled the delights of her trails, Mt. Hood has contributed a rich history to the sports of skiing and snowboarding, and it is portrayed very eloquently in this book. An entire mountain range of kudos to Ms. Arthur!!