Online Critics Propose Mt. Bachelor ‘Buyout’

Mt. Bachelor will be closed three days every week during the spring skiing season, officials said Friday. A Facebook group called “Community Buyout of Mt. Bachelor” has formed, and more than 1,000 people are getting on board with a plan to run the mountain themselves.

The group wants to see Mt. Bachelor become a community owned, non-profit business. They want a longer season, more hours of operation and more lifts running. In just one day, the group added over 1,500 members.

At least some of the Facebook members who are listed as part of the group have been added without their knowledge, as Facebook’s system allows (though they are notified and can then opt out of the group).

“I actually understand both sides of it,” long-time skier James Hudson said Friday. “I would love to see Mt. Bachelor be community, and locally owned again. But in today’s world, I’m not sure it’s going to happen.”

The page was created early Thursday morning by Scott Greenstone, an avid mountain-goer. He declined to talk on camera Friday, saying the idea was too new and there’s still a lot of work to be done.

The uprising comes after the resort announced it will only open Thursday through Sunday during the spring skiing season in May.

“I mean, if Ski Bowl (at Mt. Hood) is staying open seven days a week, running a rope tow with a full park on it, why can’t this place stay open?” asked snowboarder Adam Kays.

According to the group’s Facebook page, they want to re-invent Mt. Bachelor. Since Utah-based Powdr Corporation bought the resort in 2001, some snow riders say service has gone downhill. They claim Powdr, which also owns Park City in Utah and Copper Mountain in Colorado, is only worried about making a profit.

“It’s been a challenging year,” Mt. Bachelor spokesman Andy Goggins said Friday. “We’ve been hammered by weather over some critical holiday periods, and we won’t be able to make up the business that we lost in those periods.”

The group insists on taking three steps. The first is adding more members to the group. Second, they need to assess interest. Their plan is to ask people to pay $5,000 to $10,000 each, for an ownership share and a lifetime season pass. Third and finally, they need to find out if Powdr Corp would want to sell.

For now, Mt. Bachelor officials have called a forum next week to try to respond to some concerns.

“We’ve had a lot of questions, and there seems to be a lot of misinformation out there,” said Goggins. “We’re looking to have Dave Rathbun, our general manager, address some questions and just kind of give a full overview.”

The forum is scheduled fort 6 p.m. next Wednesday at the Riverhouse Convention Center.