Mt. Bachelor is scheduled to open for the winter on November 25th, the day after Thanksgiving.
Right now the resort is busy getting ready for the upcoming winter sports season.
Central Oregon Daily News got an inside look at the preparations.
While visitors play on the rails and throw snowballs in the hike up park near the West Village Lodge, Mt. Bachelor employees are busy plowing roads, parking lots and getting snowcats ready to groom the slopes.
“It’s going better than last year. We are fully hired I am told in lift operations,” said John McLeod, Mt. Bachelor President and General Manager. “We’ve still got some positions to fill in other departments.
“Food and beverages is one where we’d love to see a few more people come along and join the team. Lots of perks to being a Mt. Bachelor employee including season passes and access to all this out your back door.”
Getting lifts ready for final inspections before they begin operating is a big focus.
Repairs to the Skyliner Lift, which broke down last year and sat idle all winter, are scheduled to occur this week.
“Our bull wheel is scheduled to arrive Friday morning,” McLeod said. “We will pull it up to the top of the lift and install it. Then we’ll be able to turn the lift for the first time in a little while, do some maintenance on that and get that ready for inspections prior to the season.”
From the maintenance shop where technicians are preparing a new nordic trail grooming machine, to the hike-up park where the early birds are already having fun, the energy is high.
“All the talk around the place is this is going to be a big year. You and I were just talking with an employee downstairs about the 30-year trend that indicates this could be a big snow year,” McLeod said.
