Timberline Lodge ski area

My guest today is Jeff Conespan.

Jeff is the president and area operator of Timberline Lodge and Ski Area on Mount Hood, Oregon, and the second generation of his family to run it.

Timberline is unlike anywhere else in American skiing.

It was built by hand during the Great Depression as a WPA project, dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937.

Amen.

Hear, hear.

Well, Jeff, today I'm really excited to dig into everything Timberline Lodge, Oregon, especially the history, 'cause it's really fascinating to me, but first I'd love to hear your quick and dirty three-minute life story, or however long it takes.

Do you mind telling us your quick, your quick backstory?

I'll try not to take up your time with every one of them, but suffice to say that Kubrick's I don't want to over-explain my movies philosophy has led to a lot of very strange interpretations of The Shining, and I think that's why he eventually got a bit more talkative about what he was trying to say with it.

We soon see the Overlook Hotel, portrayed in exterior shots by the Timberline Lodge in Oregon and in the interiors by a set at Elstree Studios, where Jack is arriving to interview for a job as winter caretaker.

He heads into the office wearing a suit that may just have seen better days even though it's clean and neatly pressed, and goes in to meet hotel manager Stuart Ullman as played by Barry Nelson.

Barry Nelson played Jimmy Bond in that 1954 TV adaptation of Casino Royale, so we're getting closer and closer to completing the cast of that initial Bond adaptation.

He wrote The Shining.

Today, Room 217 tends to book up months in advance, and Oregon's Timberline Lodge, the building used for the Overlook's exterior shots, asked Kubrick not to show Room 217 for fear of scaring off guests, and now it's reportedly the most requested room there.

A haunted reputation is the only amenity that appreciates overtime.

Last piece...

Right.

The source notes the director changed the number to 237 simply because the real life Timberline Lodge, where they filmed the exterior shots, they actually asked him to.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

I didn't realize that Albuquerque was at 6,000 feet.

Where I am in Portland, 6,000 feet is where Timberline Lodge is, halfway up Mount Hood.

And so I see between where I live and there, the crazy transition in growing conditions and plants and how much harsher it is.

And as you say, the sun is more intense, even if it's not that hot.

Visitors can take daytime historical tours, nighttime paranormal tours, and yes, room 217 remains one of the property's most requested rooms.

The historic 1937 Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood, Oregon was used for exterior shots in the film as eerie but fictional Overlook Hotel.

Though not officially haunted, the lodge embraces its spooky reputation, especially during Halloween.

It offers a Tales From the Vault experience featuring ghost stories about Timberline and Mount Hood.

I'm actually quite proud of this next question.

Who bomb dropped off the Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood as

an...

Five, four...

Seems like a reasonable thing.

The first time I went to Timberline Lodge, top of Mount Hood, go to Timberline Lodge and look out at the view.

And you go, okay, cool.

I once went to Seattle from Portland.