Sun Valley has something like 2,000 skiable acres and 4,000 feet of vertical. That’s huge. And it’s crawling with posh people. One time I walked into the River Run lodge to get a band aid and Jodie Foster was wiggling her toes in front of the riverstone fireplace.

And the snow is crisp and dry and steep and generally the skier’s experience is world class. But skiing on Mt. Hood, a major cascadian glaciated peak, even with its maritime snow and moderate terrain, is totally outrageous. Lift service to the open slope of a glaciated volcano above the clouds! Today the mountain felt like a very special cloud world and I imagined everyone down there toiling in the dim mines of Portland.