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Hello Teacup / Mt. Hood Nordic Community,
The 2025-2026 season was challenging due to warm weather that affected snow levels throughout the West Coast. As it comes to a close, we want to express our immense gratitude for your role in the Teacup community.
While we can’t control the weather, we can control how we respond to it. Night after night, Jason and Erik worked like masons at a fragile wall, rebuilding and reinforcing the trails, moving and stacking snow, and repairing areas where water repeatedly ate away at the snowpack.
Because of their hard work and effort, the overall quality of the Teacup grooming was incredible. Congratulations to those of you who were fortunate enough to enjoy the extraordinary corduroy and ski during the beautiful sunny and cold days in January and February! Even in a lean year, our grooming team’s dedication to quality ensured Teacup was a place where people could make the most of every skiable day.
Season’s Fun Facts
Here are a few highlights from a season defined by grit, flexibility, and community:
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70% of Average Annual Grooming Days: Even with the arduous conditions, we groomed 5+ days per week from the first snowfall and for as long as possible.
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76% of Trail Pass Revenue: Despite the extreme lack of snow, we were able to bring in 76% of our typical trail pass revenue.
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One-third of Expenses: Your generous donations, our community-funded grants, and our amazing sponsors helped shrink the gap between trail pass revenue and operating expenses, a full third of our budget.
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4.5/5 Average Programs Satisfaction Score: We asked you how we did with our 5 program offerings, serving youth and adults, and you were overall very satisfied!
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8 Community Events and Races: Making the most of the conditions, we hosted as many races and events as possible. You showed up even when it was raining! One of the special highlights during the Teacup Classic were the kids playing in the rain and smiles all around, showing what a hardy community we have.
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200 Program Participants: Our youth and adult programs continued in popularity and met regularly throughout the winter season.
And, despite the warm weather, we had a landmark year with our junior racers!
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3 Junior Nationals Qualifiers: Congratulations to Jayvin, Caitlyn, and Mira, who raced hard all season and were invited to compete in Cable, Wisconsin with the best in the country.
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1 Overall Individual State Championship Title: Jayvin Lemieux won the OISRAN High School State Championships, the first overall title for any Hood River Valley High School or Teacup skier.
A Heartfelt Thank You
We are deeply grateful to everyone who purchased a pass, donated, volunteered, raced, coached, and kept cheering Teacup on through an unpredictable season. Your support is what makes this community possible!
As we wrap up the season, we want to celebrate a few groups in particular:
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Our staff: Jason Lemieux, Kelly Ryan, Karl Andersson, Erik Lehman, and Rachel Lemieux brought expertise, heart, and persistence to a season that demanded all three.
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Our volunteers: From coaching to board service, ski patrol to event support, Teacup depends on volunteers who care deeply about this place.
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Our passholders, donors, and sponsors: Your support is critical in keeping Teacup operating through every kind of winter.
Looking Ahead
This season may not have given us the snow we wanted, but it reminded us of something important: Teacup is built on dedication, adaptability, and community.
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END-OF-SEASON DONATION: With the trail fee revenue down this year every donation counts! Please consider supporting Teacup with an end of season donation.
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Your feedback matters: The program survey is still open HERE, and we’d love to hear from you.
We’re proud of what our team accomplished with the snow we had, and we look forward to better weather next year. We can’t wait to see you on the trails again!
Warmly,
Laura Davis
President, Teacup Board of Directors |
