Sunghun Kim, left, and twin brothers Jaekang Koh, center, and Jaekun Koh were among the first to arrive Jan. 1 to catch a 7
While winter in Oregon means downpours of rain and gray skies, it also means snow on the mountains. Winter term weekends — especially the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, from Jan. 15-17 — are the perfect times for escaping to a nearby ski resort for hours of thrilling winter sports. Four of Oregon’s ski resorts, all located close enough to Eugene for a day or weekend trip, have characteristics that will appeal to students who are looking to hit the snow.
Hoodoo Mountain Resort, located on the Santiam Pass summit
83 miles from Eugene via Highway 126, has the right price for lift tickets. For just $16, skiers can practice their sport from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., even on peak days in January and February. Hoodoo also has a park for tubing and offers lessons at their SnowSports School.
Seventy miles east of Eugene on Highway 58 is Willamette Pass. This destination offers a shuttle that departs from Ullr Sport Shop (which the resort owns) on Coburg Road every morning at 7:15 a.m., so skiers who don’t want to drive can still get to the slopes. Willamette Pass offers cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, tubing, and group and one-on-one lessons. Guests can explore the two nearby lakes — Crescent and Waldo — after a day of sport. In addition, Ullr Sport Shop employee Ben Marriott said Willamette Pass has a chairlift that is unique to Oregon.
“It’s the first mountain (in Oregon) that has a fixed-person high speed chairlift, which is a ski lift that holds up to six people,” he said. “It helps you get up to the mountain quicker.”
Willamette Pass’ ski passes cost $35 for a full day and $20 for an evening, beginning at 4 p.m.
The shuttle is available for $14 per
person.
A bit farther from Eugene is
Oregon’s largest ski spot, Mt. Bachelor, which is two and a half hours away via Highway 20 and State Highway 26. Aside from skiing, Mt. Bachelor caters to snowboarding, tubing, sled dog riding, cross-
country skiing and snowshoeing.
Ski lift passes this season range from $49 for a full day on the resort’s peak days (Jan. 15-17 and Feb. 19-21) to $40 for skiing from noon to
4 p.m. on a non-peak day.
Mt. Bachelor’s season is going well this year thanks to plentiful snow; they currently have about
30 inches on the ground. Communications Manager Chris Johnston said that other Northwest ski resorts do not have the best snow right now, giving Bachelor a leg up on its competition.
“Other places around the
Northwest have been struggling,” he said. “It seems everybody but Bachelor isn’t doing well right now.”
Near Portland is Mt. Hood Meadows, accessible by taking I-5 North to I-84 East, then taking Exit 64 to Highway 35. At Mt. Hood Meadows, guests can participate in skiing, snowboarding, and cross-country and Nordic skiing. Twelve miles away at its sister resort, Cooper Spur, tubing and snowshoeing are available. The closest lodging to both resorts is Cooper Spur Mountain Resort, which offers cabins and rooms with hot tubs. Mt. Hood Meadows Director of Marketing and Sales Dave Tragethon described the mountain’s terrain as “varied, unique and exciting.”
“It’s interesting,” he said. “Each run is unique and playful because of the volcanoes. That makes it more fun to ride or ski.”
The Mt. Hood resorts’ tubing and Nordic ski centers are closed at the moment due to a lack of snow, so their guests are focusing on skiing and snowboarding. Tragethon said although they’ve received less snow with low amounts of moisture than usual, the snow is cold enough for great skiing. While the cold snow didn’t arrive until a week before Christmas (a late start to the resorts’ seasons) the low temperature since then has produced “very good” business.
“Our snow is below normal in quantity, but above normal in quality,” Tragethon said.
Mt. Hood Meadows carries the steepest ticket price out of the four resorts — $50 for a full day on a weekend in January or February. Its lowest price is $22 for activities beginning at 3 p.m. on a weekday. Skiing and snowboarding lessons, ranging from 90-minute coaching sessions to eight-week programs, are available at the Epicenter.
“We’re well known for family and learning programs, and for introducing kids to the sport,” Tragethon said.
