In Timberline’s Embrace: What An Old Lodge Taught Me about What’s Worth Keeping

From her first ski trip, Jean Waight is entranced by the beauty and welcoming feel of Oregon’s old lodge—an inspired 1937 creation. Winter by winter, her friends share weather, mishaps, and ale. She braves a comical encounter with a pine marten, and is less brave when alone in a freakish snowshoeing  accident that takes her to life’s very edge.

But Timberline Lodge’s whisperings only become clear after she has to give up skiing. When skiers and snowboarders head for the slopes, and all is quiet inside, the past comes out to play. Even the linocut murals hold up a mirror to her own life.

In Timberline’s Embrace reflects on this national treasure, how close the lodge once came to being lost, and what its magic owes to generations of caring hands.