Ski an Oregon volcano and snowshoe the forests near Bend
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BEND, OREGON — Just west of Bend lies the spectacular stratovolcano complex that includes craggy Broken Top, the Three Sisters and most notably for snow sports enthusiasts, 9,068-foot Mount Bachelor.
This ski area, which sits astride a beautiful, conical-shaped mountain, is a rarity. Take the high-speed Summit chair ride to the top, and skiers and snowboarders get not only panoramic views of near-limitless landscapes, but a 360-degree choice of snowy ways to descend.
There’s a lot of shredding to ponder here with 4,300 skiable acres, several terrain parks, a 3,365-foot vertical serviced by eight high-speed quads, four fixed-grip chairs and some surface lifts. Most of the routes down from the summit are double-black, requiring advanced to expert skills to tackle every manner of ungroomed steeps and whoop-de-dos.
Conditions can vary from light, dry Cascade powder to wind-blown slabs, crust and boilerplate. Wide-open bowls give way to endless glades and narrow trails. Catch-line trails and crossovers funnel you back to the lifts from all points within. It’s an expert’s dream.
But fear not intermediates! From the summit you can schuss down a number of runs, among them Beverley Hills and Wanoga Way, down to the newest runs off the Cloudchaser quad. The whole area is a blue-square paradise.
Sunrise and Skyliner Express chairs access loads of intermediate and beginner trails, culminating at the Sunrise Lodge. And Bachelor is introducing three new lifts and additional ski acreage attached to its Woodward Mountain Park beginner area. Woodward incorporates zones that focus on learning, family-centered activities, proficiency and skiing level training, all included in your ski pass.
Mountain bites and trails
From the area’s main base, the classic Pine Marten Express not only opens up a range of trails, from green to black, and leads you to the half-pipe and race area, it also introduces you to the mid-mountain Pine Marten Lodge where you can grab eats and drinks inside.
For great, sustained pitch runs with fewer crowds, take that express to The Outback and the Northwest, both serviced by high-speed quads of the same name. Northwest, with a whopping 2,356 feet of vertical rise, tends to black runs and Outback to blue runs, but your legs will be burning soon enough on either.
And the power of some of the snow storms hitting the volcano are evident here and on the summit, with ice-blasted trees looking like ghosts and lift buildings resembling Antarctic weather stations.
Other adventures
Looking for other ways to play on the mountain? There’s a Nordic center with a network of groomed trails that boasts one of the longest seasons in North America, from mid-November to the end of May and sometimes into June.
Take a daredevil plunge down the tubing park or opt for a snowshoe tour. Bend’s Wanderlust Tours offers a variety of excursions in Central Oregon, including canoe trips, brewery hops and cave adventures — and winter snowshoe trips to Bachelor.
Guide Erika Nuetzel led us on a snowshoe trek across the ski slopes and into the forest of hemlock and lodgepole pine. We didn’t just take in the views, we learned all sorts of things — that you can make tea with lodgepole needles, and that the subnivean zone — the area between ground and snowpack — is where mice and vols live to avoid both cold and predators. She pointed out those predators’ tracks in the snow, Pine Marten and Sierra Nevada red foxes, the latter curiously more prevalent here than in the California mountains. And we learned the finer points of lichens growing on tree bark, from Bear Fur and Witch’s Hair to the toxic-for-mammals Wolf lichen.
A couple of hours of climbing, sliding and sloshing, with an occasional soft tumble, and we were back at the van drinking hot cocoa, very satisfied with the adventure — and much smarter than before.
IF YOU GO
Mt. Bachelor Ski Area: Find details on lift tickets, Nordic sports, snow blast tubing and other recreational possibilities at www.mtbachelor.com.
Wanderlust Tours: Four-hour, naturalist-led snowshoe tours run twice daily ($80 per person, $60 for kids ages 8 to 11) from November through April, and include snowshoes, hot cocoa and transportation from Bend. There’s a Shoes, Brews and Views snowshoe option, as well, that includes craft brews and root beer ($90 per person, $60 for ages 8 to 11). Find more information at www.wanderlusttours.com.
Free snowshoe tours: US Forest Service naturalists lead free 90-minute interpretive tours on Mount Bachelor from late December through March. Check in 15 minutes before your 10 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. tour and pick up snowshoes at the USFS snowshoe hut just outside the guest services building in West Village. Donations to the USFS’ non-profit partner, Discover Your Forest, fund this volunteer-based program. Find more details at www.mtbachelor.com