The Glades of Mt. Ashland

Mt. Ashland is a small locals' ski area on top of the Rogue Valley's highest mountain. This diminutive ski area offers just 240 skiable acres and 1,150 feet of vertical drop, and with highly-variable seasonal snowfall, some years it doesn't open at all. But when the mountain does open, the towering douglas fir trees cover much of those 240 skiable acres hide incredible glade skiing!

From the lift, many of the glades look like impenetrable forests with nary a path for a skier to thread. But once you dive into the glades, you'll discover that this isn't the case at all. The towering doug firs come together to create an impenetrable canopy, but far below their branches, the massive trunks are widely-spaced, providing sublime glade skiing!

Since the doug firs are so tall, in most glades you don't have to contend with getting slapped in the face by the outstretched tree branches. Instead, the glades look like a hall of brown pillars, and all you have to do is wend your way between the trunks, looking for the best stashes of powder!

Some of Ashland's glades are easily-accessible from the lifts, and others require a bit of traversing or hiking to both reach and return from. In this guidebook, you'll find an exhaustive breakdown of the best glades on the mountain!

To get started, head to Brutus and Birnam Wood for two of the top glades. For a more remote skiing experience, work your way over to Moraine Glade. And for more-overlooked lines, dig a bit deeper into the rest of this guidebook!