Then and Now: The Timberline Lodge

Perched atop Mt. Hood, Timberline Lodge sits approximately 60 miles east of Portland, Oregon. Home to a 12 month ski season and a preferred training site for the U.S. Ski Team, the National Historic Landmark was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself during the Great Depression and makes for an authentic alpine experience shaped by the remarkably scenic Pacific Northwest. It’s an alluring setting, one that Alps & Meters has wanted to visit for a while, and was the perfect setting to shoot the Fall/Winter 2020 collection.

Timberline Lodge is surrounded by 12 named glaciers or permanent snowfields that cover Mt. Hood. The pinnacle of its namesake Mt. Hood National Forest, the mountain rises up above 1 million acres of lakes, rivers, and luscious pinelands. An active stratovolcano, Mt. Hood experienced it's last eruptive periods in 1901 and 1805 shortly before the arrival of Lewis and Clark. It's peak is said to be visible at distances of up to 100 miles away although the recorded elevation has varied substantially over time. Today, it stands at 11,235 ft yet the mountain was notably cited at 18,000-19,000 ft tall as recently as 1854.

Constructed in 1937, Timberline Lodge was built by the Works Progress Administration, an American New Deal agency which employed millions of unskilled laborers to carry out infrastructure and public works initiatives across the country during the Great Depression. Furnished by local artisans, the 55,000 square foot lodge lives at an elevation of 6000 ft and was built to serve the developing appetite for skiing out west in the early 20th century. Officially declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977, Timberline Lodge represents the magnificent beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the region's rugged spirit as a whole.