The Top 5 Deepest Snowpacks on the West Coast: It’s been a challenging snowfall year on the West Coast but there have been some bright spots. Those bright spots are also the high spots. Mt. Bachelor, OR is the highest elevation ski resort in all of Washington and Oregon. Mt. Rose is the highest ski resort in Nevada (and Tahoe). Mammoth is the highest ski resort in California. These higher elevation ski resorts hang onto snow and get through warm spells better than their lower elevation counterparts. If you’re searching for snow this spring, search high. These snowpack numbers are taken from the ski resorts’ websites from their upper mountains on Thursday, […] SnowBrains | March 19, 2015 0 Comments
Mt. Bachelor, OR = A Bright Spot for the PNW: It’s no secret that it’s been a rough winter for the Pacific Northwest (PNW) in general. Some SnoTel locations in Northern Washington are showing 10% of average snowpack as of February 25th, 2015. Mt. Bachelor ski resort in Oregon continues to be the bright spot in the Pacific Northwest. They now have a 94″ snowpack at mid-mountain and they’ve gotten 175″ of snow this season. They got 9″ of new snow this past week and it rode smooth. Bachelor’s has the highest elevation skiing in the PNW and it shows. That high elevation helps […] SnowBrains | March 5, 2015 0 Comments
6-12″ Forecast for Mt. Bachelor, OR This Weekend NOAA is forecasting 9-17″ of snow to drop on Mt. Bachelor, OR Thursday through Saturday this week. As of February 22nd, 2015, Mt. Bachelor had the 4th deepest snowpack in the USA at 88″. This week’s storm should add to that. Bachelor is the highest elevation ski resort in the Pacific Northwest and it shows. They have the deepest snowpack in the PNW this year by far. […] Weather SnowBrains | February 26, 2015 0 Comments
The Natural Terrain Park Summit of Mt. Bachelor, OR A powder day on the summit of Mt. Bachelor is a special thing. The wind smooths and carves out amazing features up there that are made for hucking, jibbing, and sending. I’ve seen some crazy stuff thrown off the enormous cornice that grows up there. You can drop 360º off the top and roam wherever you wish. Bachelor currently has a 89″ upper mountain snowpack. They’ve gotten 166″ of snow this season. Bachelor has the highest elevation of any ski resort in the Pacific Northwest and this helps them avoid rain and hang onto […] SnowBrains | February 20, 2015 0 Comments
Top 5 Deepest Snowpacks in the Pacific Northwest: It’s been a strange year in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) this year yet there have been some bright spots. Mt. Bachelor ski resort in Oregon is the highest elevation ski resort in the PNW and it shows. When high snow levels show up, Bachelor is often high enough to get snow and their higher elevation helps them hang onto snow longer. Mt Hood in Oregon is doing well also. Likely due to their higher elevation as well. The ski resorts in the PNW with lower elevations are struggling this year due to the higher snow levels. We’ve got our fingers crossed and we’re […] SnowBrains | February 13, 2015 2 Comments
Mt. Bachelor Conditions Report | A Bit Hard, A Bit Fun This last weekend started with high hopes of making some creamy spring turns from the top of Mt. Bachelor.From a distance, the mountain looked ready for prime shredding, yet little did we know that the looks we got from the car were completely, utterly deceiving.Our first run might have been one of the most disappointing I’ve had in a while; it was an ice rink.I might have been better off with speed skates than skis. Conditions Report Bevan Waite | February 3, 2015 1 Comment
While Most of the PNW Struggles, Mt. Bachelor is Just Fine Due to Its High Elevation It’s no secret that the Pacific Northwest of the USA is having a challenging snow year. They’ve gotten some quality snow cycles and some vicious rain events. Enough rain to temporarily close ski resorts and wash away more snow than anyone would like to talk about. Most ski resorts in the PNW are struggling to stay open this year and some have closed, waiting for more snow. Through all of this Mt. Bachelor ski resort in Oregon is doing fine. Bachelor just opened their Northwest Chair (their best chair) for the season last week and […] SnowBrains | January 27, 2015 0 Comments
Mt. Bachelor, OR’s Northwest Chair Opens for Season Mt. Bachelor ski resort has the deepest snowpack in the Pacific Northwest at 74″. They’ve gotten 146″ of snow this winter and today the opened up the legendary Northwest Chair for the first time this season. The Northwest Chair offers over 2,000-vertical-feet of fall line skiing and riding. This is one of the most consistently good chairs in the Northwest as it can stay open in big storms so you can ski this treed terrain during white out conditions. This chair is a powder hound’s dream come true. The Northwest Chair is a high speed quad that carries skiers and riders 2,365-vertical-feet in minutes. […] Conditions Report SnowBrains | January 22, 2015 2 Comments
Top 5 Deepest Snowpacks in The Pacific Northwest Right Now: The Pacific Northwest is having a bit of a funky year with some cold, some warm, some snow, and some rain. Even with the funkiness, they’re doing pretty damned good in the snow department with some of the deepest snowpacks in the USA, as per usual. These snow totals are taken from mid-mountain from the ski resort’s websites. […] SwellBrains | January 9, 2015 0 Comments
The History of Mt. Bachelor, OR Mt. Bachelor averages 463″ of snowfall each year prompting humans to build a ski resort there in 1958. Bill Healy was the man who started the ski resort they called Bachelor Butte at the time. The initial ski resort consisted of one rope tow and one platter lift (poma) that pulled skiers 1,000-vertial feet up the mountain. A lift ticket to Bachelor Butte in 1958 would have set you back $3.00. After the initial rope tow and poma lift, the first chairlifts were the Black chair in 1961, Red chair in […] Featured Article SnowBrains | December 28, 2014 2 Comments
21″ of Snow Forecast for Mt. Bachelor Next 3 Days | Bachelor Has the Most Snow in the PNW Mt. Bachelor ski resort in Oregon has already gotten 101″ of snow at mid-mountain this winter. They have gotten more snow than anywhere in the Pacific Northwest this winter. Not bad. NOAA is currently forecasting Bachelor to get 21″ of snow in the next 3 days. This storm should give Bachelor enough snow to get their legendary Northwest chair open for the season. The Northwest chair is where you wanna be at Bachelor on a powder day. The Summit chair […] Weather SnowBrains | December 10, 2014 1 Comment
Mt. Bachelor, OR = 15″ Overnight + 4-Foot Base + 4 Lift Opens + 78″ This Season… Mt. Bachelor, OR has had nothing but snow in their forecast the past 10 days. The next 7 days are forecast to be nothing but snow as well. They got 15″ of snow overnight last night, they’ve had 26″ of snow in the past 7 days, they have a 4-foot base, they’ve gotten 78″ of snow already this season, and they have 4 lifts open today. Not bad. Bachelor has gotten so much early snow that they were able to open 3 days earlier than scheduled this season on November 23rd, 2014 with one chairlift open. Today, they will be opening 4 chairlifts […] SnowBrains | November 29, 2014 1 Comment
Nothing But Snow in the Forecast for Mt. Bachelor, OR | Opening 3 Days Early on Monday Mt. Bachelor ski resort in Oregon has nothing but snow in its forecast for the next 7 days going right through its opening day on Monday, November 24th, 2014. There’s sure to be some solid skiing and riding at Bachelor during their opening week. Bachelor has gotten 21″ of snow in the past 7 days and 40″ of snow this season so far. They have […] Weather SnowBrains | November 21, 2014 1 Comment
2014/15 Oregon Ski Resort Opening Dates: Oregon is the land of copious snowfalls, seemingly endless ski seasons, and amazing tree skiing. It’s a volcano-land whose peaks inspire as the scrape the sky. Mt. Bachelor is a freeride paradise, Mt. Hood is open 10 months a year, and Mt. Ashland is the steepest ski resort per acerage in the USA. It doesn’t hurt that Bend, Oregon (Mt. Bachelor’s town) has the highest brewery per capita in the USA as well. Beer is good. Locally brewed beer is even better. […] Industry News SnowBrains | November 3, 2014 0 Comments
25 Ski Resorts Still OPEN in North America & When They Close: The Masters Golf Tournament, the Kentucky Derby, playoff hockey, basketball playoffs… all heinous harbingers of the end of ski season. These sporting events can truly disturb the hardcore skier or rider is not properly prepared. How do you properly prepare for this challenging time of year, you ask? By dragging yourself and a few good buddies to one of the ski resorts below. […] SnowBrains | April 30, 2014 6 Comments
Gerry Lopez Big Wave Challenge @ Mt. Bachelor, OR This Saturday: Mt. Bachelor ski resort in Bend, OR is hosting their 4th annual Gerry Lopez Big Wave Challenge. Just in case you didn’t know, Gerry Lopez is also known as Mr. Pipeline. Yeah, he’s the guy that first mastered the nastiest, most gorgeous barrel wave in the world. He’s also been a potent innovator in the surf industry as far as surfboard design, style, and attitude is concerned. You can think of him as […] SnowBrains | April 24, 2014 1 Comment
21″ of Snow Forecasted for Mt. Bachelor, OR Mt. Bachelor ski resort is forecasted to receive 21″ of snow between now and Wednesday. Bachelor has had a heckuva year this year. Bachelor is one of the spring skiing capitals of North America and one of the reasons they are is because of their late season dumps. Bachelor has gotten 363″ of snow this year. They have a 145″ base at mid mountain and a 100″ base at the base of the mountain. Put 21″ of fresh snow on top of that and you’re gonna have a good time. Bachelor also has one of the top 5 chairlifts in the Pacific Northwest, […] Weather SnowBrains | April 21, 2014 0 Comments
Top 20 Deepest Snowpacks in North America Spring is powerfully rushing into North America this month. In fact, most ski resorts in North America will be closing this weekend. Resorts with big snow totals and snow depths are still looking great. In a year as lean as this was in most locales, it’s impressive to see how many resorts have over 100″ deep snowpacks. North America is […] SnowBrains | April 16, 2014 15 Comments
Why We Ski the North West| Ode to Rain, and Bottomless Pow, and Spring Skiing North America has endless terrain options. Except for the Mississippi River Valley you can ski coast to coast. From the weathered Southern Rockies to the rugged Northern Rockies, West past Utah all the way to California, East and North to the tip of Maine, the options are endless. After sampling the goods in various […] Chaz Diamond | April 1, 2014 2 Comments
Storm Hitting Western U.S. | Who’s Got the Goods & Who’s Getting More After this most recent storm has handed out the goods ski conditions have gone from spring to pow. The best part? There’s more! The first storm has moved across the region over the past few days and has heavily favored California. As the storm has tracked East the Rockies […] Weather SnowBrains | March 27, 2014 3 Comments