Mount Bachelor ski resort (stylized as Mt. Bachelor) is a ski resort located in Central Oregon, approximately west of Bend, along Century Drive Highway. The ski area is on the northern side of Mount Bachelor, a stratovolcano rising atop a volcanic shield in the Cascade Range.
Since 2001, the ski area has been owned by Powdr Corporation of Park City, Utah. It is the largest ski resort (by area) by more than in Oregon, the second largest single-mountain ski resort in the U.S., behind Vail, and the sixth largest of all ski resorts in the nation.
Mount Bachelor offers one of the nation's longest ski seasons, mid-November through the end of May (weather permitting).
History
The Mount Bachelor Ski Area was founded by former 10th Mountain Division Elite Force ski trooper Bill Healy (1925–1993) on December 19, 1958, with $75,000 (equivalent to $ today) and a one-year lease from the U.S. Forest Service for the land. The four other major stockholders were Felix Marcoulier (1917–2004), Dr. Bradford Pease (1912–2004), Oscar Murray (–present), and Phil Gould. The founders raised $100,000 from local investors and made many important management decisions that would shape the path of Mount Bachelor and Central Oregon for decades to come.
The ski area opened as Bachelor Butte in October 1958 with a rope tow and a -long platter lift rising ; a lift ticket was three (equivalent to $ today). The name of the volcano was changed to Mount Bachelor in 1983 after the Bend Chamber of Commerce persuaded state and federal officials to adopt the more descriptive term Well-known broadcaster and avid skier Lowell Thomas visited the young ski area in 1961, flying over from Sun Valley with agribusiness magnate
The first chairlift was "black chair" in 1961, shortly followed by "red chair" in 1964. In 1967 and 1970, the yellow and blue chair lifts were added, and in 1973 the green and orange chair lifts were added. The "Outback chair" was added in 1976, "Rainbow" in 1980, and "Sunrise" in 1982. The first area of the mountain developed for skiing was the northeastern side. The northwestern side was not lift-served in 1973, but those who ventured for the "Outback Trail Tour" paid a dollar in advance and got a return ride by a snowcat to the lodge. A new trail was finished in 1975, and the Outback double chairlift was installed at a cost of $700,000. It was replaced by the $3 million high-speed quad (Outback Express) in the summer of 1987; with a capacity of 2,800 passengers per hour. The -long Northwest Express chairlift was added in 1996, a high-speed quad with vertical. This lift further expanded the terrain to the west and increased the resort's overall vertical, lowering the minimum lift-served elevation to . In 1976, Mount Bachelor had a severe drought and was only open January 2 through February 14, and February 26 through April 30. There was a loss of an estimated $4 million which took four years to recover. Following the drought, the Nordic initiative began and the main lodge expanded.
Plans for the first summit chairlift were announced in autumn 1979; the high-speed detachable triple was installed in the summer of 1983. At the time, it was just the second detachable chairlift installed in the world. It was upgraded to a quad in 1997. Original plans for a summit lodge and an accompanying service road were abandoned in 1982 to attain approval from the U.S. Forest Service.
Due to its challenging terrain parks and excellent snow conditions, Mount Bachelor is the official home training resort of many professional and Winter Olympic athletes, and hosts several professional USSA competitions each year.
On April 4, 1968, a single-engine light airplane crashed on the slopes of Mount Bachelor with three fatalities. Bound for Eugene from Boise and Billings, it was found three days later at the level by skiers after a multi-day regional air search in limited visibility.
Terrain
The mountain is famous for its dry snow (for the Pacific Northwest), with typical snowfall of over per year and a mid-winter base over . The resort boasts a lift-served vertical drop of with a lift running to , just below the volcano's summit, which is accessible via a short hike. As one of the tallest mountains in the vicinity, Mount Bachelor often experiences high wind speeds causing the chairlift to the summit to be put on standby.