“It’s no secret that this was one of the [worst], if not the worst, snow years in the Pacific Northwest in the past 50-plus years,” said Robin Cressy, camp videographer of over 40 years for Mt. Hood Summer Ski Camps (MHSSC). He describes how promising snowstorms in October 2025 “turned out to be a bit of fool’s gold in terms of the upcoming ski season,” he commented. The season seemed hopeful initially, but was quickly compromised by temperatures above freezing and lack of snowfall in December 2025 and January 2026.
Oregon’s snowpack is currently at about 30% of its normal level, nearly tied with 2015 for the worst year on record, according to an Axios article. Cressy made reference to this memorable season, as 2015 was the only other year — aside from 2026 — that MHSSC has been forced to cancel the last sessions of camp due to low snowpack. Timberline Lodge ski area, the resort that hosts summer ski camps like MHSSC, recorded its third-worst snowpack in the last 75 years. “We’re kind of the epicenter of the snow drought,” Oregon State University Associate Professor and Director of the Oregon Climate Service Larry O’Neill told Axios, mentioning that the only states with lower median snowpack percentages for the 2025-26 winter season were Arizona and New Mexico.
In an attempt to extend an olive branch to disappointed skiers after an astonishingly short 22-day season, Mt. Hood Skibowl is taking an unusual step to help smooth it over with season pass holders. The ski area is offering last winter’s pass holders a steep discount — 72.5% off next year’s pass. In an email to pass holders, Mt. Hood Skibowl explained that its typical season over the past decade has averaged 97 days, making this year’s season 75 days shorter than average. This year’s season fell 72.5% short of that average, leading to the high discount Skibowl offered. In an interview with the Oregonian, Mike Quinn, Skibowl’s vice president and general manager, said this year’s snowpack is the lowest the resort has ever seen since its establishment in 1928.
Adding on to the disappointment brought on by this year’s ski season, the annual Kelsey Hewitt Memorial Race, scheduled for Jan. 2, 2026, was cancelled due to the lack of snowpack. “That race is known as the largest high school ski race in America in terms of number of athletes, so it was a significant letdown to hundreds of high school racers, coaches, and everyone else involved,” said Cressy.
The three Oregon high school ski racing leagues — Metro League, Three Rivers Ski League, and Mt. Hood Youth Ski League — which mostly scheduled their race events at various ski resorts on Mt. Hood, all had to share one run at Mt. Hood Meadows. Cressy elaborated, “That run, known as ‘Gemini’ at Mt. Hood Meadows, was really the only run on Mt. Hood that held snow consistently and was fortunately deep enough to set race gates.” The 2026 State Championships, originally scheduled to be hosted at HooDoo Ski Area in Central Oregon, had to be moved to Mt. Hood Meadows due to the lack of snow at HooDoo.
As Cressy mentioned, MHSSC will have to cancel the last four weeks of scheduled camps this summer because of the scarcity of snow at Timberline. “It makes me really nervous for future summers at Mt. Hood,” said Adele Tanini, a counselor at MHSSC and employee since 2022. Timberline management informed all ski and snowboard camps of their projected closing date of July 19, 2026.
Cressy said he had seen shorter summers for the ski camps in recent years due to the declining Palmer Snowfield, a glacier on Mt. Hood accessible via Timberline. “Our camp used to consistently hold 14 weeklong sessions of training each summer, starting Memorial Day, and ending the Friday of Labor Day weekend,” he stated. “Not so much anymore.”
