Sahale Lodge is the new home of the Meadows Learning Center and the Ski and Snowboard Equipment Rental Center at Mt. Hood Meadows. The second floor features 230 seats for dining, increasing the resort’s lodge capacity by 60 percent. The new lodge also includes the Bull Wheel Bar, an indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant that incorporates the history of Mt. Hood Meadow’s chairlifts, structures and machinery, including an actual bull wheel from a decommissioned chairlift.
Sahale is equipped with a heated roof and concrete embedded hydronic snow-melt system in the outdoor dining area and entry slabs. Reclaimed wood siding accent walls were milled from structural beams from the old Texas chairlift. The state-of-the-art kitchen features a precast concrete panel façade and a skybridge to the existing lodge.
The alpine environment’s challenges included adverse and unpredictable weather conditions, proximity to forest fire country, unique elevation concerns and delivery delays due to the remote location. The structure was built to withstand extreme snow, wind and earthquake loads.
The project was built about 10 feet from a U.S. Forest Service protected wetland that could not be disturbed. Part of the project was to add to the wetland via a rain garden and native vegetation.
