- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: December 13, 2018
- Last Updated: March 01, 2019
Omar Akahloun in his Green Dream bus.
EDITOR'S UPDATE, March 2019: Omar and his Green Dream Bus finally got city approval to load and depart from the ReRack parking lot on NE Sandy in Portland. Buses depart for Mount Hood at 7 am.
Omar Akahloun is on a mission to bring back that good mountain vibe of relaxation in a beautiful, stress-free environment.
- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: February 15, 2016
- Last Updated: February 16, 2016
Randa Shahin and Josh Larkin at Revelstoke.
Randa Shahin and Josh Larkin make an excellent team. They’ve been together for about five years now, and they are well known on Mount Hood for their snow skills, their adventure dog Shiva, and their high-flying jumps.
- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: December 15, 2015
- Last Updated: December 17, 2015
Pent-up demand for fresh snow on Mount Hood.
Two tough snow years in a row on Mount Hood gave way to an epic pre-Christmas snowstorm last week, sending skiers and snowboarders racing up to enjoy the powder, with their wallets at the ready.
- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: May 14, 2015
- Last Updated: May 15, 2015
Leigh and Matt Capozzi, co-founders of North Drinkware, creator of the Oregon Pint Glass.
Not even in their craziest dreams did Leigh and Matt Capozzi imagine that their Mount-Hood-in-a-Glass Oregon Pint project would take off the way it has.
- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: February 19, 2015
- Last Updated: February 19, 2015
Climbing legend Mark Cartier on Mount Hood in 2012. Photo by Richard Hallman
There is a large, gorgeous photograph on the wall at Jarod Cogswell’s new FIT Academy in Beaverton that is a source of inspiration and motivation for Cogswell and his many Mount Hood friends.
- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: February 03, 2015
- Last Updated: February 03, 2015
North Drinkware's Oregon Pint Glass. Photo by Dustin Ortiz.
The Oregon start-up that designed a pint glass with a detailed replica of Mount Hood inside has crushed its Kickstarter funding goals and picked up 1,000 new backers in just a few days.
- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: January 20, 2015
- Last Updated: January 20, 2015
Know a recent college grad who is looking for a unique marketing internship? Someone who enjoys skiing and/or snowboarding and getting up to the mountain every weekend? Someone who knows and loves Mount Hood?
- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: January 07, 2015
- Last Updated: January 07, 2015
Colin Hales, regional manager for Kassbohrer All Terrain Vehicles, manufacturers of PistenBully snow groomers.
The remote industrial property in Tualatin, Oregon with the sign out front for Kassbohrer All Terrain Vehicles, Inc., would be pretty easy to drive by without noticing. But it represents something large and worth paying attention to, in a skiing and snowboarding world where the art of grooming snow grows more important each year.
- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: December 16, 2014
- Last Updated: December 18, 2014
Doug Fish has been skiing Mount Hood for 50 years.
“I broke my leg skiing the red chair at Multorpor in 1964,” he remembers with a smile.
That chair is still there, and Fish still loves it. He has been a regular on the mountain since a childhood friend invited him up to the family cabin and gave him the opportunity to be the first person in his family to ski.
"I've always felt a connection with the mountains, and with Mount Hood in particular," he says.
He has climbed to the summit of Mount Hood and skied its terrain with family and friends through good snow years and bad. He met his wife Michelle DeCourcy at Mt. Hood Meadows in 1997.
His daughter Graeson was one of the top 10 high school racers in Oregon last season, and he is the parent rep of the Lake Oswego High School Ski Team.
He is also the founder and president of Fish Marketing, one of Portland’s fastest growing companies.
When Fish first launched his company in 2003 he called it Snowfish, and his plan was to focus on the snow sports industry. Since then he and his team have diversified into all sorts of new areas, as the economy boomed, crashed and finally began to recover.
But their biggest bread-winner is still their free-season-pass-with-your-new-Subaru campaign, which has proven so successful in Oregon that they are expanding it into Tahoe, Colorado, DC and beyond.
- Written by Ben Jacklet
- Category: Business
- Published: November 25, 2014
- Last Updated: November 26, 2014
ReRack founder and owner Bo Grayzel (on the right) with store manager Garrett Shields near the entry of their Portland shop.
Bo Grayzel grew up ski racing, so he understands the importance of finding your line and sticking with it, even when things get scary.