snowave
Active member
This is way more of a report than neccesary for a quick 2 day jaunt in pretty crappy conditions, but here it is anyway.
So I got a new snowboard at the end of season deals, and thought I'd take a peak at Mt. Bachelor's page to see if they had any deals going on so I could find an excuse to drive the 6 hrs over from ID. Thankfully, they did... $49 lift tix, plus there was a little bit of flexibility so I got a 2/3 day option. Now it was time to look for Lodging. Again, score! Days Inn had $49 night rates that week. The only downside was the days I planned to go was about 12 days away. Looking at the long term weather outlook, there was a chance it could be cold and unsettled, but 12 days out if fantasyland, and as a weather forecaster, I knew that there was a decent chance that it could be wrong (I was hoping for the classic Bachelor corn setup).
Well, it wasn't. Sunday PM/Monday AM, Bachelor reported 8" of new snow, with reports of up to a foot around the mountain. Not all bad news, right?! (even though I was a traveling that day with a start date of Tuesday). It stayed below freezing all day, but reports were that it was still getting a bit thick.
Temps had been in the low to mid 20s overnight, so I thought it might be good first thing, so the rarity of me making first chair was gonna happen. While skies were clear in Bend, the Bachelor cloud was sitting on the mountain pretty heavy. I arrived to about 1-2" of new snow, a pretty strong NW wind, along with snow flurries, and pretty thick fog, especially 1/2 way up Pine Marten.
First few runs... The snow was kinda funky. I was a bit refrozen/chunky... but with some almost winter-like conditions on the north side of Pine Marten. I tried a going into the trees, but it was pretty thick and heavy, along with some hard stuff mixed in, so it was back to the "groomed runs" (which still has 1-2" of new snow on top of the groomed stuff). Visibility was downright awful on Pine Marten (especially with the inconsistent snow surface) so I headed over to the year old Skyliner 6 Pack. While the fog was still bad here, there was hints the sun might come out. It kinda sorta did about 3 times, but overall wasn't really much better. The snow quality was about the same, although there was some corn trying to grow on the bottom 1/4 of the runout to the base. I took about an hour break (along with many others) and had a coffee inside.
No real break in the clouds, so I went back out around 11:30 and road another hour in the same conditions. At one point, I took the Summit Crossover to the base of the Summit lift. The sun was breaking out here, but the wind was blowing about 40 mph, so obviously, it wasn't open. That was it for the day, and I headed into town to hit the ski shops for any bargains. I ended up getting a nice light/mid-weight jacket for $100 ((50% off) which I needed, which was a nice score. Dinner that night at Fire on the Mountain wings/chicken. I had had their spicy chicken sandy before, and it was just as good this time.
Wednesday was again mostly clear when I left Bend around 9:30 AM, but the Cloud was still on the mountain, thanks to the persistent N/NW wind banking the clouds up on the northern half of the mountain. I could clearly see Summit chair, but you could see the clouds racing across the top, so that wasn't a good sign. Again, temps has stayed cold overnight with a good wind continuing... however, with it being May, even below freezing temps don't always mean frozen snow... there's enough solar radiation poking through the fog/clouds to keep the surface mixed/soft.
Pine Marten was slightly less socked in, but not that much better than Tuesday. Skyliner had a little more sun, as the clouds were dissipating just to the south, so I headed over there almost immediately. Some decent corn set up on Skyliner, which was pretty much at peak when I arrived. However, still lots of intermittent fog/flurries and wind made visibility only a little better... so confidence remained low as the light was terribly flat. I did get some nice turns in through the terrain parks, thanks to the more consistent snow. Two more hours going between Pine Marten and Skyliner, then I called it a day.
Crowds both days were minimal, but a little more than I expected. I'd say about 50-70% of chairs has at least someone on it. Again, Summit never opened, as winds were reported over 100 mph at the summit. Had dinner that night at Cascade Brewing Co, which is no longer in the SW part of town on the way to the mountain. They opened up a new location on the SE part of town. Much nicer place then the old one (which was dark and poor setup), along with good food and beer. Also went to the new Costco location north of town. Really nice store, with much more room than the old one.
Overall, not a terrible trip. Getting to try my new stick was fun, and at least got an idea of how it might ride in better conditions. I left on Thursday (which was sunny even on the mountain), but still windy. I almost drove to Portland for a concert (Friday) Simple Minds/Modern English/Soft Cell at the ampitheatre, but the weather looked iffy, and I wasn't crazy about sitting outside for 3 hours in wind and possible rain.
Juntura Hot Springs on the little island. However, the water was too high on the Malheur river, so I didn't go over to it.
A cool lenticular cloud near Vale, OR
A beaver had a good time with this pretty good sized Juniper.
Pine Marten loading
The Cone had some fresh-ish tracks from yesterdays new snow.
I think this is Outback Way/Ed's Garden... which faces North-ish. Almost winter-like snow here.
The trees looked more appealing than they actually were
I don't remember this run
Summit chairline
as seen from near the bottom terminal.
Ed's
my new "50% off" jacket
Appoaching Bachelor. The southern half looks good, but those clouds banked up along the north slope is where the open lifts were.
The sun breaking out... sorta.
Pretty much how every ride on Pine Marten (and to a lesser extent, Skyliner) where the top 1/3 of the lift was socked in.
2/3 Sisters as seen from Costco Parking Lot north of town
Some relatively rare Kelvin-hemlotz clouds on the way home.
So I got a new snowboard at the end of season deals, and thought I'd take a peak at Mt. Bachelor's page to see if they had any deals going on so I could find an excuse to drive the 6 hrs over from ID. Thankfully, they did... $49 lift tix, plus there was a little bit of flexibility so I got a 2/3 day option. Now it was time to look for Lodging. Again, score! Days Inn had $49 night rates that week. The only downside was the days I planned to go was about 12 days away. Looking at the long term weather outlook, there was a chance it could be cold and unsettled, but 12 days out if fantasyland, and as a weather forecaster, I knew that there was a decent chance that it could be wrong (I was hoping for the classic Bachelor corn setup).
Well, it wasn't. Sunday PM/Monday AM, Bachelor reported 8" of new snow, with reports of up to a foot around the mountain. Not all bad news, right?! (even though I was a traveling that day with a start date of Tuesday). It stayed below freezing all day, but reports were that it was still getting a bit thick.
Temps had been in the low to mid 20s overnight, so I thought it might be good first thing, so the rarity of me making first chair was gonna happen. While skies were clear in Bend, the Bachelor cloud was sitting on the mountain pretty heavy. I arrived to about 1-2" of new snow, a pretty strong NW wind, along with snow flurries, and pretty thick fog, especially 1/2 way up Pine Marten.
First few runs... The snow was kinda funky. I was a bit refrozen/chunky... but with some almost winter-like conditions on the north side of Pine Marten. I tried a going into the trees, but it was pretty thick and heavy, along with some hard stuff mixed in, so it was back to the "groomed runs" (which still has 1-2" of new snow on top of the groomed stuff). Visibility was downright awful on Pine Marten (especially with the inconsistent snow surface) so I headed over to the year old Skyliner 6 Pack. While the fog was still bad here, there was hints the sun might come out. It kinda sorta did about 3 times, but overall wasn't really much better. The snow quality was about the same, although there was some corn trying to grow on the bottom 1/4 of the runout to the base. I took about an hour break (along with many others) and had a coffee inside.
No real break in the clouds, so I went back out around 11:30 and road another hour in the same conditions. At one point, I took the Summit Crossover to the base of the Summit lift. The sun was breaking out here, but the wind was blowing about 40 mph, so obviously, it wasn't open. That was it for the day, and I headed into town to hit the ski shops for any bargains. I ended up getting a nice light/mid-weight jacket for $100 ((50% off) which I needed, which was a nice score. Dinner that night at Fire on the Mountain wings/chicken. I had had their spicy chicken sandy before, and it was just as good this time.
Wednesday was again mostly clear when I left Bend around 9:30 AM, but the Cloud was still on the mountain, thanks to the persistent N/NW wind banking the clouds up on the northern half of the mountain. I could clearly see Summit chair, but you could see the clouds racing across the top, so that wasn't a good sign. Again, temps has stayed cold overnight with a good wind continuing... however, with it being May, even below freezing temps don't always mean frozen snow... there's enough solar radiation poking through the fog/clouds to keep the surface mixed/soft.
Pine Marten was slightly less socked in, but not that much better than Tuesday. Skyliner had a little more sun, as the clouds were dissipating just to the south, so I headed over there almost immediately. Some decent corn set up on Skyliner, which was pretty much at peak when I arrived. However, still lots of intermittent fog/flurries and wind made visibility only a little better... so confidence remained low as the light was terribly flat. I did get some nice turns in through the terrain parks, thanks to the more consistent snow. Two more hours going between Pine Marten and Skyliner, then I called it a day.
Crowds both days were minimal, but a little more than I expected. I'd say about 50-70% of chairs has at least someone on it. Again, Summit never opened, as winds were reported over 100 mph at the summit. Had dinner that night at Cascade Brewing Co, which is no longer in the SW part of town on the way to the mountain. They opened up a new location on the SE part of town. Much nicer place then the old one (which was dark and poor setup), along with good food and beer. Also went to the new Costco location north of town. Really nice store, with much more room than the old one.
Overall, not a terrible trip. Getting to try my new stick was fun, and at least got an idea of how it might ride in better conditions. I left on Thursday (which was sunny even on the mountain), but still windy. I almost drove to Portland for a concert (Friday) Simple Minds/Modern English/Soft Cell at the ampitheatre, but the weather looked iffy, and I wasn't crazy about sitting outside for 3 hours in wind and possible rain.
Juntura Hot Springs on the little island. However, the water was too high on the Malheur river, so I didn't go over to it.
A cool lenticular cloud near Vale, OR
A beaver had a good time with this pretty good sized Juniper.
Pine Marten loading
The Cone had some fresh-ish tracks from yesterdays new snow.
I think this is Outback Way/Ed's Garden... which faces North-ish. Almost winter-like snow here.
The trees looked more appealing than they actually were
I don't remember this run
Summit chairline
as seen from near the bottom terminal.
Ed's
Appoaching Bachelor. The southern half looks good, but those clouds banked up along the north slope is where the open lifts were.
The sun breaking out... sorta.
Pretty much how every ride on Pine Marten (and to a lesser extent, Skyliner) where the top 1/3 of the lift was socked in.
2/3 Sisters as seen from Costco Parking Lot north of town
Some relatively rare Kelvin-hemlotz clouds on the way home.
