High and dry: Hoodoo’s water pump breaks

The water pump on the well at Hoodoo has broken down, and crews at the ski and snowboard resort west of Sisters are working to get it back online, but that may take some time.

The 18-year-old water pump went out over the weekend, and getting it back up and running again won’t be as easy as you might think.

The well is located on the side of the mountain, at the base, and crews had to move snow out of the way to get the proper equipment in place to fix the problem.

They will then have to begin removing 800 feet of pipe in the ground, in order to get to the source of the problem.

Matthew McFarland, the Hoodoo general manager, said Monday that crews are doing their best to deal with the situation as quickly as possible.

“A lot of ski-area management is just taking care of one crisis after another — crisis management some people call it — but, you know, we just have a lot of fun up here,” McFarland said. “Of course, not planning on this happening, but we roll with it and take care of business.”

In the meantime, Hoodoo has brought in portable toilets and limited its food service dueto the lack of running water.

But even with the inconvenience, there were still quite a few people out on the mountain enjoying the day Monday, for many a holiday.

Laurie Mason, who was at Hoodoo on Monday morning, said the lack of water doesn’t bother her.

“We have a 6-year-old, and we came up with friends who have a 6-year-old, so I knew we weren’t going to last long,” Mason said. “And the Porta-Potty was fine with us, and we always bring our own lunch.”

Others said it’s hard for something so minor to ruin a day on the mountain.

McFarland said Hoodoo has been notifying people about the water being shut off before they buy their tickets, just in case that might make them change their minds.

Crews arrived Monday afternoon with the equipment to fix the pump and get water flowing once again at Hoodoo.

They had to figure out a way to get two trucks to the pump. Now that the equipment is in place, McFarland said the work to get the water flowing once again is just beginning.

“It takes about a day and a half to get the 800 feet of pipe out of the ground. It takes another day and a half to put the pipe back in,” McFarland said. “So, hopefully, water will be flowing on Thursday morning.”

It has been an up-and-down season so far for Hoodoo, with a lack of snow, and now no water at the resort, but McFarland said management is taking it all in stride and rolling with the punches.