A little more than a year ago, I was reporting on health care for the Portland Business Journal and I interviewed Rocky King, the executive director of Cover Oregon. Rocky was a lively, upbeat guy with a large task before him: to build a new website to make health insurance transparent in Oregon.

Prior to the interview, I mentioned that I would be leaving my reporting job soon to start Shred Hood, a niche website covering skiing and snowboarding on Mount Hood. Rocky wasn’t a skier or a snowboarder, but he still said “cool” when I described the plan.

I turned the recorder on and asked the director about Cover Oregon. He said it was a big job and a serious responsibility because he was in charge of building a niche website covering skiing and snowboarding on Mount Hood.

We had a good laugh at Rocky’s little joke and got on with the interview. But in retrospect I have to say that the joke is on Rocky. He spent $248 million in taxpayer money to build something that basically doesn’t work. We spent a few thousand bucks of our own money to build something that does work.

My partner Bjorn van der Voo and I launched Shred Hood on time and under budget, and we have published hundreds of articles and dozens of E-Magazines over the past six months for thousands of new readers.

Of course any fool with a website can look good in comparison to the IT disaster that is Cover Oregon. That’s why I chose them! The 2013-14 season is over, and it is time to thank all of our readers and supporters while highlighting some of Shred Hood’s accomplishments, and our plans for the future.

Thanks to all of our E-Mail subscribers, our Facebook and Twitter and Instagram followers. A year ago our reach was zero. Today it is in the thousands and growing.

Huge thanks to our first-year advertisers: Deviation Skis and Snowboards, Merit Properties, Hillcrest Ski & Sports, The Taco Shoppe, Imperial Snowpark Equipment, and Mt. Hood Real Estate. These are all cool, local businesses that deserve your support.

Special thanks also to the many talented photographers, writers and videographers who shared their work with Shred Hood: Grant Myrdal, Mike Juliana, Randy Boverman, Alexandra Pallas Loren, Zeb Yaklich, Emilio Trampuz, Sean Jacks, Dan Kneip, John Loseth, Ben McKinley, Robin Cressy, Pierce Hodges, Stephen Garretson, Alice Jacklet, Tony Carleton, Scott Lustig, Tommy Ellingson, Josh Larkin and many others.

We are super proud of our accomplishments in Year One and with your support we will make Shred Hood even better in 2014-15. If you would like to become a member by purchasing a premium subscription, we have several levels of support available and some sweet Shred Hood stuff to send you in return. Click here to become a member.

Regardless of your membership status, Shred Hood will remain an open community website for all readers, with no pay walls, published year-round. We will continue to cover Mount Hood and its surroundings through the summer, expanding into mountain biking, climbing and windsurfing and kiteboarding, as well as covering the lively summer shred scene on Mount Hood. If you have story ideas or photos to share, e-mail us any time.

Businesses interested in learning more about Shred Hood sponsorship opportunities are also encouraged to contact us early and often.

Have an excellent summer and let’s hope for some serious snow in 2014-15!

Last modified: June 3, 2014