50 Reasons To Love Winter

01 ST. BERNARD’S RULE
An infallible truth: everyone loves puppies. And Heidi, Timberline Lodge’s new Saint Bernard mascot, is as irresistible as they come. Luckily, at 65 pounds—and still growing—there’s plenty of fur to go around.

Heidi the St. Bernard’s Photo Shoot WATCH THE VIDEO

02 CURLING ISN’T JUST FOR CANADIANS
If you’re like us, the sport of curling briefly mesmerizes you during its Winter Olympic cameo, then sadly vanishes from your consciousness. No longer. Twice a week, Portland’s Evergreen Curling Club offers a two-hour introduction to this convivial sport on Lloyd Center’s famous ice rink for just $20 per family. Parlez-vous bonspiel? Now you do.

04 YOU CAN LOSE THE STAIRMASTER
Instead, pick up a book: The Portland Stairs Book. Author Laura O. Foster catalogs Portland’s collection of public staircases, often tucked away in hilly, scenic neighborhoods, like Alameda Ridge, where a five-mile jaunt can include a calf-chiseling 805 stairs.

08 SLEIGH BELLS
Modern transportation proves woefully overrated when the ground is jacketed in snow and ice. Go old-fashioned with Mt Hood Adventure’s sleigh rides around the hills of Government Camp—with bracing open-air sightseeing and propulsion supplied by bell-bedecked horses. Your studded tires will seem downright lame.

10 IT’S SWELL SEASON
Tornado Alley’s storm chasers may be doomed to a life on the road. But in Oregon, gale watchers enjoy all the comforts of home—and then some. Check into Cannon Beach’s Stephanie Inn —complete with plush, oversize furniture, Jacuzzi tubs, gas fireplaces, a four-star dining room, and oceanfront balconies—and watch as a theater of surging tides explodes against 235-foot Haystack Rock right outside your room. 2740 S Pacific St, Cannon Beach; 503-436-2221

11 CONQUERING THE COLD
Columbia’s new line of Omni-heat jackets and boots gives a proper stiff arm to Old Man Winter. The jackets’ reflective lining is purported to help you retain 20 percent more heat. And the boots boast an internal electric heating system that’ll warm up your toes when wool socks throw in the towel. Stick that in your corncob pipe and smoke it, Frosty.

17 EXCUSES FOR PAMPERING
Whether flying down the slopes or shooting between downtown’s skyscrapers, winter winds leave many a face feeling like a piece of Oberto beef jerky. Soften things up with facial from Root. For the hourlong skin nutrition treatment, which includes a respite in the sauna ($85), the Zenned-out Northeast spa’s delightfully calm estheticians use a line of handmade organic skincare products from Hungary to rearrange your face—the right way. 2526 NE 15th Ave; 503-288-7668

18 WATERFALLS FREEZE
During cold, wet winters—like this one—look for a concentration of crystallized gushers between Corbett and Ainsworth State Park in the Columbia River Gorge, where as many as five frozen giants, some more than 600 feet tall, can be found.

22 YOU CAN COOK HEALTHY
No doubt the turkey wasn’t the only thing that got stuffed over the holidays. Time to dial up Hipcooks’ “Healthy, Fresh, Zingy” classes. Held inside an Ikea-esque space on N Williams Avenue, the four-part series teaches novice cooks how to prepare delicious, fresh meals, like sesame-crusted ahi tuna with roasted red and yellow pepper soup and mini sorbet sandwiches for dessert. Kinda blows your “ants on a log” out of the water, huh? 3808 N Williams Ave; 503-281-0614

25 ELK ARE MUCH COOLER THAN REINDEER
Hear them bugle at Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area, a 2,490-acre preserve in the northern Coast Range, where more than 200 Roosevelt elk gather each winter to graze in mountain meadows.

31 IT’S TEATIME
Rainy days invite introspection. And another steaming cup of tea. Get your fill of both at the Tower of Cosmic Reflections, the ultra-authentic teahouse at the Lan Su Chinese Garden, where a soothing selection of teas and snacks rotates to complement the garden’s seasonal foliage. 239 NW Everett St; 503-224-8455

32 YOU OWN THE MOUNTAIN
Gather up your ski buddies and rent out the east side of Mt Hood Skibowl as your private kingdom for the night. The Cascade Chair, accessing eight runs, is your throne; the tubing hill your jester’s court; and the rustic Multorpor Lodge, with its traditional Old World fare and mighty stone fireplace, your palace. It’s good to be king. Rate negotiable.

33 THINGS CAN GET STEAMY
The Finns know a thing or two about riding out a long dark winter in style. Their secret? A good sauna. Embrace the Suomi spirit inside a six-person cedar sauna set just a few yards away from the 12 miles of cross-country trails around Trillium Lake. To indulge, you’ll need to book a night at the adjacent three-bedroom Barlow Trail Cabin. Inside, massive windows stare up at Hood’s summit. It’s hard to imagine a better spot to watch the snowflakes drift down than in between the soothing clouds of steam next door. 503-819-7952

42 CATS GET US UP THERE
Waaaay up there. From Timberline’s Palmer Express, at 7,000 feet on Mount Hood, hitch a ride on the 12-seat, Bombardier snowcat, which carries skiers and riders every 20 minutes up the Palmer Glacier to 8,500 feet. The price is included with your lift ticket, but the run down through deep, untracked snow feels like you’re stealing kisses.

44 THE ZOO DOESN’T HIBERNATE
Wet-season outings to the menagerie mean more face time with the animals, and less time in lines. Maximize your ogling with January’s two-hour parent-child classes, which provide a behind-the-scenes look at how the staff cares for all-star residents like polar bears and primates. Also eternally cool: the sight of a gray wolf’s breath rising in the chilly Northwest air. 4001 SW Canyon Rd; 503-226-1561; oregonzoo.org

45 KIDS CAN RIDE
Kidical Mass to be confused with Critical Mass, that lemming-like bike protest that was a hip way to get arrested about 10 years ago—is a perfectly legal family excursion designed to help kids get a feel for the road. Portland’s Kidical leaders plot short, traffic-light routes across the city; in these soggy months, the ride, which draws close to 100 kids and parents, provides a great excuse for getting the bikes out of the garage.