EUGENE, Ore. – Ski season is off and running in the Oregon Cascades, earlier than usual but with some setbacks.
The biggest setback came courtesy of the storms that washed out Highway 35, the main road to Mount Hood Meadows. Early estimates are that the resort will be closed until mid-December.
Elsewhere, though, Mount Bachelor opened with five lifts running last weekend, tying with last year for the earliest start since 1998. Timberline is open, too, and Willamette Pass and Hoodoo ski areas are scheduled to follow suit Thursday and Friday, respectively, or as soon as snow levels permit.
And the snowpack in the Cascades this winter will, a panel of expert meteorologists unanimously agrees, be “about average,” which is a good forecast for skiers.
Lift ticket prices may rise this year, though, in part because resort operators keep reinvesting in their facilities. For example, it cost $3.5 million to replace Mount Bachelor’s old Pine Marten chairlift, the resort’s most-used lift.
The brand new high-speed quad has fewer mechanical parts than its predecessor, according to Director of Maintenance Rick Brooks, “meaning it operates more efficiently” and is less likely to break down.
During the off-season, the resort also cleared second-growth trees to make more “glade” skiing available, according to Communications Manager Jeannette Sherman.
Skiers this winter will pay $52 per day to ride the lifts at Mt. Bachelor, and $58 per day during the three busiest holiday periods. Last year’s base rate was $49.
At Hoodoo, the biggest change “is in the way we look at midweek skiing,” resort owner Chuck Shepard said. After holding the midweek price several dollars lower than the weekend rate for several years, Hoodoo is now charging the same base rate every day.
At Willamette Pass, the rate will be $38, $2 higher than last year’s. Over the summer, the resort purchased a second pipe grinder to ensure snow raiders have a professionally cut halfpipe.
According to the Oregon Meteorological Society’s 14th annual winter forecast, this will be neither a banner snow year like 2005-06 nor a disaster like 2004-05.
Overall, the five meteorologists on this year’s panel said they expected a slightly drier, slightly warmer than normal winter.
Oregon state climatologist George Taylor said resorts should compare the upcoming season to the 1951-52 season and the 2003-04 season.
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