Elevation/residence/snowfall (Portland, Medford, Bend: ski resorts, condos, hotel)

[Pfhtex]

Goal: Guaranteed snowfall from Thanksgiving through at least January. I'm talking Storybook White Christmas action.

Considering elevation, etc., what area might be closest to Portland?

Please note that I'm talking about living there, not visiting a ski lodge.

I work out of the house so commute is not a factor.

Thanks very much!

[PNW-type-gal]

Snowfall or snow on the ground? Closest to Portland, probably Rhododendron, but if job/money no object, I'd pick Sisters, OR. Not a pretty commute, though. Neither of those places is a 100% sure bet for snow by Thanksgiving. By Christmas, very likely. There isn't really a town close to the top of the pass by Mt Hood - "Government Camp" is pretty much a motley hotel collection and a pub and not much else.

The snow season tends to be shifted a little later - Dec though February or March. The ski resorts always hope to open up by Turkey Day, but it doesn't always happen.

[Pfhtex]

Mmmm. Yes....


I mean snow on the ground. Accumulation!

Thanks!

[PNW-type-gal]

Accumulation? Nowhere near Portland. Maybe in the Wallowa Mountains, up above Joseph, OR, somewhere. Not in Central Oregon (Bend, Sisters) either, not without finding a remote cabin probably above, say, the 6,000' level.

I'm 25 miles from Crater Lake National Park, and while the Park has 600" of snow pack currently, we have zero, so the amount of snow falls off with elevation fast.

[PNW-type-gal]

There are places in Oregon where you can find that kind of snow, but generally there isn't an actual town there. Mt Hood, Mt Bachelor, Paulina Lake/Newberry Crater, Crater Lake, Diamond Lake. Lake of the Woods at the pass from Medford to Klamath Falls. Joseph and Anthony Lakes over in NE Oregon. In the hills up above Santiam Pass, also up above Sisters.

I know I'm forgetting something...

[Daisy32673]

Government Camp. They just built some nice condos up there. Youll definitely get the snow accumulation you're looking for. About an hour outside of Portland

[hamellr]

Sometimes Lakeview (at 4800 feet it's the highest town in Oregon,) and south eastern Oregon. Most of that area is over 3000 feet. But as has been pointed out, it gets pretty desolate very quickly if you want to be where the snow is all the time.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

I know I'm forgetting something...

Maybe Greenhorn, Oregon:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingn..._a_mile_h.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/uma/publicat...orn_winter.jpg

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by hamellr

Sometimes Lakeview (at 4800 feet it's the highest town in Oregon,) and south eastern Oregon. Most of that area is over 3000 feet. But as has been pointed out, it gets pretty desolate very quickly if you want to be where the snow is all the time.

It doesn't stick down here - we might get a foot or two of snow over the course of a big storm system, but it's generally gone in a week or so. You need to go way up to get - and keep - snow on the ground.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

It doesn't stick down here - we might get a foot or two of snow over the course of a big storm system, but it's generally gone in a week or so. You need to go way up to get - and keep - snow on the ground.

You know, when I was a kid living in Lakeview it seemed like there was snow on the ground all the time. Houses and barns outside of town were frequently built with an outside door on the second level due to the snow fall. I remember driving between Lakeview and New Pine Creek, half afraid that that the snow on the sides of the road would fall in on us because it was so high.

I know it's nowhere near that bad these days, or perhaps the memory of a child just elongates the period of snow much longer.