Portland Adventure

[nick malozzi]

Hey, I've got a good friend that moved from PA to Portland last summer, and I would really love to go visit her. I was planning a trip to climb in Kentucky around Thanksgiving, but I'm canceling it due to financial reasons. So I've got a few more PTO days now to burn elsewhere. I also noticed roundtrip airfare from Denver to Portland is very reasonable. I'd like to head up and make like a 4 day weekend out of it, and get some riding in up there as well. So I'm looking for some advice about the area in terms of mountains. I'm pretty sure there are some people on here that have both lived up there and visited. I can honestly say I know very little about the area. It is one of the few areas of the country I've never gotten to (which is one of the reasons I'm stoked to get up there). So any advice would be awesome, but mainly I'm looking for recommendations on where to ride, when to go to get the best snow, and the feasibility of staying with my friend in Portland and getting to the Mountains (I can rent a car if need be, but wouldn't mind avoiding that if I can). Thanks in advance.

[snorovr]

Did a weekend at Bachelor once in my early teens. Definitely a bit of a hike from Portland but well worth it. Always one of the places I've wanted to get back out to.

[Dan-]

Hood is probably your best bet. I have a buddy that rode at Mt. Hood meadows and said he had a blast.

[nick malozzi]

might be limited terrain open that early..pray for snow..I thought you were talking about Portland Maine at first..

Read my post... I have no date set.

 

edit: portland oregon. and anytime this winter.

Edited October 27, 2009 by nick malozzi

[DHarrisburg]

Honestly? Meadows is your only option (or Ski Bowl for night riding, I guess). Bachelor is 4+ hours from Portland (not including winter weather road conditions). Meadows is about a hour and a half with clean roads. If you don't have transportation your only logical option is The Greasebus. I've spent a ton of time in Portland and have rode all the Hood mountains during the winter and if you are going to be spending a week or less in the area I'd suggest just having a really good time in Portland and don't bother spending the time or the money visiting mountains that won't even begin to parallel what you've got at home. While you're in Portland you should do all of the following:

 

Restaurants:

Rocco's Pizza (949 SW Oak St, kitty-corner from Powell's Books, cheap giant slices and cheap beer)

Nicholas' (318 SE Grand Ave, Turkish restaurant a few doors down from Andy & Bax)

Voodoo Doughnuts (22 SW 3rd Avenue, this place is basically a tourist trap now I guess?? I've never been there myself but everyone I know says it's amazing and that you should go so...)

Meat Cheese Bread (1406 SE Stark, good sandwich place)

 

Stores:

Powell's Bookstore (1005 W Burnside, kitty-corner from Rocco's Pizza)

Andy & Bax Military Surplus (324 SE Grand Ave, few doors down from Nicholas')

The ReCyclery (they have a couple locations, awesome used bike shit)

 

Activities:

Baghdad Theater (3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd, old theater converted to a 21+ movie theater, tickets are $3 and they have a full bar and some pretty good concessions)

 

That's just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head, I'll edit this post later and and add a bunch of other stuff that would be worthwhile to check out.

Edited October 27, 2009 by DHarrisburg

[nick malozzi]

Thanks for the info man. I mainly wanted to go ride so I had something to do over the day or two I will be in the area and Ryan (McLaughlin btw, i dunno if u remember her from high school) has work. I guess I could just head out into the city on my own and check it out. As far as transportation goes, I'm thinking a rental may happen since the airfare seems so cheap. Anyway, looking forward to your additions on what to check out. Thanks again.

[DHarrisburg]

Oh yeah I just remembered that thanks to absolute dipshits that post on this forum I have lost the ability to edit my posts! Thanks guys! Here's another;

 

Don Vivi's Pizzeria (2727 NE Glisan St.)

 

Also, a big part of me suggesting against riding while you are out there was before I remembered about the Greasebus. It's an awesome service run by some friends of mine who charge $10 for roundtrip service to Meadows. If you have the means to rent a car then by all means do it but I would still recommend taking the Greasebus regardless of wether or not you have a car. It's too cheap and too easy not to ride it, most of my friends who live in Portland use it exclusively to get to the mountain.

[nick malozzi]

Oh yeah I just remembered that thanks to absolute dipshits that post on this forum I have lost the ability to edit my posts! Thanks guys! Here's another;

 

Don Vivi's Pizzeria (2727 NE Glisan St.)

 

Also, a big part of me suggesting against riding while you are out there was before I remembered about the Greasebus. It's an awesome service run by some friends of mine who charge $10 for roundtrip service to Meadows. If you have the means to rent a car then by all means do it but I would still recommend taking the Greasebus regardless of wether or not you have a car. It's too cheap and too easy not to ride it, most of my friends who live in Portland use it exclusively to get to the mountain.

Yea the greasebus sounds pretty sweet. I was checking out the link you put in the last post. After looking into it more, I think I may just scrap renting a car and try that out. Given I can get from the airport to Ryan's without a ridiculous bus ride. I'm all for public transit, but I'm not about taking a bunch of different buses just to get to her place (she is car-less).

 

Thanks again for all the advice. I had you in mind when I put this thread up, but figured I'd go public with it in case anyone else had anything constructive to add.

Edited October 28, 2009 by nick malozzi

[zaldon]

Read my post... I have no date set.

 

edit: portland oregon. and anytime this winter.

their is also a Portland in PA

[snoskier]

I agree with what DH says. I used to live out there and have skied all but Snow Bowl. I personally liked Timberline and they have opened up a huge new area. I've never skied meadows when the canyon area (skiers far right) was open, but meadows is also pretty good.

 

I would add one thing about car vs. bus. If it snows they require 4x4 or chains on the road up to Hood. Sometimes they require 4x4 and chains. Just a heads up if you rent a car.

 

Enjoy.