Northwest Passage Mount Bachelor Opens New Territory For Skiers, ‘Boarders

Mount Bachelor still squats on the edge of the Cascade Range, pretty much the same size and shape it has been since Oregon’s last great volcanic era produced the giant cinder cone.

But you’d think there was a whole new mountain up there, the way some skiers and snowboarders are talking about Mount Bachelor these days.

Well, the mountain remains the same, but there is some new territory up there for snow sports buffs.

It’s called the Northwest Territory, and it includes an additional 458 acres of ski/snowboard slope served by Mount Bachelor’s seventh high-speed quad chairlift, the Northwest Express.

The lift serves 10 new ski runs - including some of the steepest and longest on the mountain - that dive over the edge of the mountain’s northwest flank and plummet toward Sparks Lake.

“It was phenomenal,” said Dean Grabski, manager of the snowboard shop at Anderson Sporting Goods in Eugene, upon returning from a recent trip to Mount Bachelor.

“I really liked the gladed skiing at the top. There’s lots of chutes, and there’s some just great tree skiing,” said Grabski. “It completely changed my attitude about the mountain.”

Indeed, this is no longer the Mount Bachelor that topnotch skiers sometimes sneeringly referred to as “Mount Flatchelor” - especially when the weather forces closure of the Summit chairlift, which happens as much as a third of the time.

The Northwest Express will provide a more reliable source of steep expert skiing, according to Kathy DeGree, marketing manager for Mount Bachelor Ski and Summer Resort, because the terrain it serves is more sheltered from the wind.

DeGree says the new lift is important because it repositions Mount Bachelor among other top ski areas in the West.

“Many of our guests had been requesting more expert terrain,” DeGree said. “This really meets that demand.” Nine of the 10 new runs are marked with the black diamond symbol that signifies the most difficult trails on the mountain. Overall, 25 percent of Mount Bachelor’s trails are now rated “expert.”

Some of the chutes near the top of the lift feature slopes of up to 60 degrees, according to Mount Bachelor officials. The steepest terrain, however, smooths out after the first couple of hundred feet.

The Northwest Express lift was put into service about a month ago, and already the upper areas above the treeline have won a lot of fans.

The Northwest Express Quad Chairlift is 8,048 feet long and gains 2,377 feet in elevation. The 1.6-mile ride takes just 8-1/2 minutes, making the lift one of the longest and fastest in North America, according to DeGree.

The upper terminal of the lift is at 8,077 feet elevation (Bachelor’s summit is at 9,065) and the lower terminal is at 5,700 feet. With the opening of the Northwest Territory, Mount Bachelor now has 3,686 acres of ski terrain accessible by lift.

Matt Janney, Mount Bachelor’s director of mountain operations, says the new territory provides a cerebral skiing and riding experience.

“There’s so much going on underfoot, you’ll have to think about every turn as you follow the natural terrain of what once was a lava flow,” Janney said.

“It’s true ‘Warren Miller skiing’ that starts with 60-degree chutes above treeline, then dips 2,349 vertical feet into steep, wooded bowls laced with upheavals, off-camber runs and natural half-pipes.”

Ken Klecker, director of skiing, likens it to “riding a winter roller coaster.”

Mount Bachelor hopes to ride a wave of renewed interest produced by the new lift to a profitable year, in spite of the fact that seemingly endless snowstorms ruined the crucial Christmas holiday business.

“We were about 47 percent off of our projections for the Christmas season, which will have a significant financial impact on the year,” said DeGree.

Mount Bachelor Ski and Summer Resort invested about $5 million in the Northwest Territory project, which includes the installation of the new lift and carving out the new runs.

Resort officials sought to minimize the visual impact of the new runs by utilizing natural chutes and openings whenever possible, thus reducing the number of trees that were cut down.

And where the runs do cut through stands of trees, the cleared area is noticeably narrower than elsewhere on the mountain.

Two of the runs - Snap Shot Alley and Atkeson’s Zoom - were named in honor of Ray Atkeson, the late nature photographer who spent much of his life documenting the beauty of the Oregon Cascades in the Mount Bachelor area. Other runs include Huckleberry Picker, Devil’s Backbone, Sparks Lake Run and the Northwest Connection.

MEMO: Information about Mount Bachelor is available by phone at (800) 829-2442, or on the Internet at http://www.mtbachelor.com The resort’s e-mail address is MTB@bendnet.com Reservations can be made by phone at (800) 800-8334 or via e-mail at www.empnet.com/cova