Mt. Bachelor, anxious for snow’s return after unseasonable warm-up, plans Friday reopening

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Mt. Bachelor, which saw heavy snow turn to rain in a sudden, soggy weekend warm-up and had to suspend operations one day after opening, sees a more helpful, snowy forecast in the next few days and plans to reopen two lifts on Friday, the resort said Tuesday.

"After an incredible opening day on Saturday, we were hit with heavy rain and warm temps for about two days, which impacted our snowpack and operations," resort Marketing and Communications Manager Lauren Burke said.

"While we won’t see a freeze overnight tonight, the forecast is trending in a positive direction towards the end of this week, with colder temps and snowfall starting on Wednesday night into Friday morning, and another storm coming in on Saturday," Burke said.

"We lost about a foot of snow from our base due to rain, and the snow is currently extremely saturated, but the latest storm should put us in a great place to reopen and start expanding terrain here soon," she said.

"We plan to reopen with Little Pine and Sunrise (lifts) on Friday, and will continue to assess conditions, with the goal of adding additional lifts and terrain," Burke said. "Our team will be working towards adding Pine Marten Express to the schedule, as soon as conditions allow."

In Tuesday morning's condition report, the resort said, "Rain tapered yesterday evening, but temperatures remained in the low 40's at the base and high 30's at mid-mountain. In order to preserve our snowpack for the season ahead, we will be limiting all disturbances on the snow surface and suspending operations today, Tuesday, December 5th. Guests with bookings for today will be automatically refunded."