Start those snow dances. Mt. Bachelor plans to open in a little over two weeks and it needs more snow.
Opening day is scheduled for Friday, November 24 — the day after Thanksgiving.
Mt. Bachelor received about seven inches of snow in the 24 hours ending Tuesday afternoon. There’s more in the forecast, but not enough to be certain about opening in two weeks.
“We do need quite a bit more help from Mother Nature to get open on the 24th,” said John Merriman, Mt. Bachelor’s new president and general manager. “But we have plans A, B, C and D depending on how much snow we have available here on the mountain.”
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Merriman says the mountain needs at least two feet of snow to cover the runs and provide safe skiing and snowboarding. He says the resort has started making snow under the Pine Marten lift when conditions are cold enough.
In the meantime, hundreds of employees are being hired and trained to operate the lifts, lodges, restaurants and retail shops.
“We’ve replaced the motor on Northwest Express. We replaced the haul rope on Northwest. Replaced the gear box on Little Pine. We’ve replaced the gear box on Outback and that’s just to name a few.”
Merriman says the Skyliner lift upgrade to a new, six-person high-speed detachable lift – which will increase capacity on that lift by 50% — is on a schedule to open before Christmas.
“I like to think positively. I like to think optimistic. I have high hopes that we are going to be open on the 24th.”
