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The ML Washington
Hotel is a turn-of-the-
century Grand Hotel.
Summer skiing on the Palmer snowfield
begins in mid-May and runs through Labor
Day. Hours are early— from 7 am. to 1:30
p.m.— to avoid summer slush. Built in 1978,
the Palmer chairlift was the first lift service
for summer skiers in North America. Al-
though the lift is for intermediate skiers or
better (U.S. and Canadian Olympic ski teams
train here in summer), Timberline's winter-
time slopes are equally divided between be-
winds of 231 miles per hour were recorded here in 1934.
Down at the base, in the safety and comfort of the Mt. Washington Hotel, the "Kung of
the Mountain Kids Kamp" is as predictable as—no, make that more predictable than— the
weather. Serving between 800 and 900 children each summer, the camp's routine is the
same from week to week: on Monday it's tennis; Tuesday, a field trip; Wednesday, making
ice cream; and Thursday, baking and decorating cookies in the hotel's impressive kitchen
and bakery. Cost of the program is $7 for half day; $10 for a full day. For children too young
for camp, private baby sitters can be arranged by prior request
RESERVATION INFORMATION: The Mt. Washington Hotel, Rte. 302, Bretton Woods,
N.H. 03575, phone 603-278-1000. Double occupancy $165 to $310; deluxe suite $485. Rates
reflect Modified American Plan, which includes an American breakfast and ,four-course din-
ner, for hotel rooms only.
TIMBERLINE LODGE
Sixty miles east of Portland, Timberline Lodge gives new and
lofty meaning to the mountairi-house concept Dramatically poised at 6,000 feet on Mt Hood,
Oregon's highest peak, it looks down on the Mt Hood National Forest, and above to the
desolate, snow-covered summit
Timberline features all the predictable offerings of a summer resort fishing in nearby
mountain lakes and streams, swimming in the heated indoor pool, and mountain climb-
ing and backpacking along the Pacific CrestTrail that cuts across Mt Hood near the lodge.
Antique car rallies, a wine-and-craft fair over Labor day weekend, and a Swiss weekend
round out the scheduled events. But with, it all, there's one thing Timberline has in sum-
mer that very few other resorts can match— snow skiing.
ginning, intermediate, and expert.
Owned by the U.S. Forest Service, Timberline is less a luxury hotel than a comfortable
hostelry with the rustic flavor of the Pacific Northwest Its sixty rooms are furnished with
original pieces that were specifically made for the lodge. Its conference center is, happily,
removed from hotel activities. The dining room features Oregon cuisine and an award-win-
ning, mainly regional wine list But what makes Timberline especially compelling is the
story of its creation.
Timberline was conceived as a make-work project of the Works Progress Administra-
tion, the Depression-era federal agency designed to provide people with jobs and train-
ing. Dreamed up by a WPA administrator in Portland, the project was viewed with skepticism
from the start Back then, while some were climbing the mountain and a few were skiing
on it, people were always meeting with disaster on Mt Hood— losing their way and some-
times meeting their deaths. A tiny hostelry built in 1924 stood just about where Timber-
line stands today, but it was only an eight-by-sixteen-foot shack that provided food and a
mattress to travelers. The prospect of a full-scale resort on Mt Hood at the time probably
seemed ludicrous.
But the project was launched. Built entirely by hand, the lodge emerged as a showcase
for local materials and the talents of area stonemasons, ironworkers, and carpenters. From
nearby mountain quardes, workers hauled in 400 tons of stone to build the great hexago-
nal stone chimney. From the forest below, they selected the giant fir and pine trees, the
great timbers that would become rafters and columns. It was not easy going: The road to
the site was little more than a cow path, and winter weather threatened to strand the work-
ers and halt the project altogether. Nevertheless, Timberline was completed in 1937, and
Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke at its dedication of the "skill and faithful performance of work-
ers on the rolls of the WPA."
Inside, the huge hexagonal stone chimney with three walk-in fireplaces rises to 72 feet
and runs through the central pointed structure to a 750-pound, bronze-and-brass weather
vane. Local artists and craftsmen decorated the interior with carved newel posts, iron gates
and lamps that hang from the ceiling. Each of the sixty rooms in the lodge is different,
but each boasts watercolors of indigenous wild flowers, hooked rugs, and hand-made fur-
niture.
As to another claim to fame, Timberline holds a strange fascination for the Hollywood
set Movies from "Lost Horizon" to this year's "Hear No Evil" with Martin Sheen and Mar-
ley Maitland have been filmed here. And so was Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining," the ter-
rifying Stephen. King tale in which the ax-wieldingJack Nicholson stalks the corridors and
boxwood gardens in search of his wife and young son. Not the savviest image making, per-
haps, but memorable. Evidently, no one's worried that even the scariest of stories will throw
a pall over Timberline's success.
RESERVATION INFORMATION: Timberline Lodge, 71mberline, Oregon 97028, phone
503-272-33 11/ reservations 800-547-1406. Regular rooms from $90 to $ 150, double occu-
pancy, per night. Bunk-style chalets with shared bathrooms begin at $52. Rooms with a fire-
place begin at $140. continued on page 30
STYLE • SUMMER 1993
• 27