‘Intense’: Those looking to enjoy C.O. snow find heavy traffic on way to hot spots
'There not a lot to do, so skiing becomes what you do'
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- As eager snow-goers in Central Oregon made their way up toward Mt. Bachelor Tuesday morning, many became stuck in a long line of traffic.
NewsChannel 21 received emails and phone calls from skiers reporting traffic was stopped.
One person said it took him three hours to make it to the mountain.
When we arrived, traffic was back to a crawl.
"We didn't have a winter, so everybody's trying to jump on board and get as much snow as we can right now," snowmobiler Bryan Harrison of Bend said.
Mt. Bachelor officials told us that during major storm cycles, with heavy snow and high winds, it can prove challenging for the snow removal team to keep up with clearing the parking lots, even working through the night.
They were also temporarily down one snow blower, and that some drivers didn't realize there are two ways to enter.
Read full statement from Mt. Bachelor below
"The traffic was pretty intense on the way up here -- it was bumper to bumper," Harrison said. "It looked like a mile, so it was intense."
Harrison said with COVID-19 shutting down many other entertainment venues, he's noticing more traffic on the roads.
"There's not a lot to do, so skiing becomes what you do," he said.
Harrison said limited parking in general is becoming a normal conversation for Central Oregon outdoor enthusiasts.
"Way too many people coming in to get into the sport -- which is great for all of you new guys getting into the sport. But you know, the local guys, we like to have our spots, and we still spots that people haven't discovered," he said.
Despite the traffic and the crowds, most skiers are loving all the fresh snow!
Mt. Bachelor statement:
Mt. Bachelor and the Cascades continue to be in the midst of a back-to-back significant storm cycles. While this is Mother Nature delivering snow that will keep us skiing for months to come these persistent storms can create challenges with snow removal in parking lots.
During huge storm cycles with heavy snow and wind it can prove challenging for our snow removal team that works through the night in preparation for guest arrival at 7:00 a.m. With the storm cycles and being down a snow blower awaiting parts, which have now arrived and the snow blower has been repaired, the snow removal in parking lots was impacted today. With two snow blowers back in action we expect to have lots plowed through the night and parking lots consistent with what have been cleared throughout the season. Even with being down one snow blower, all guests who had reservations today, February 16, gained entry into the resort and were guided to parking spaces. At times, there was single lane back up from West Village due to guests not realizing that there are two lanes entering the resort for scanning. We continue to educate our guests on traffic flow when checking in with parking attendants.
Powdr Crap and Mt. B – officially done! Mountain now too corporate and overrun by Californians, ruined a great spot just like the town of Bendiego.
Always that one moron doing 15mph with 2 miles of cars stacked on their butt. The self absorbed garbage that believes EVERYONE else should pay for their incompetence!
Slow moving vehicles required by law to use turnouts
Slow drivers had nothing to do with the hundreds of cars stacked up trying to get into Mt Powder Crap today. The back to basic reserved parking is BS. Thanks to visit bend and powder crap Mt B has become the PNW version of Disneyland and 45 min covid lift-lines.
No friends on a powder day.
Get used to the traffic! More building and migration to Central Oregon without any strategy from our local leadership is creating this monster. I’m trying to imagine what a nightmare traffic will be like this summer up to the lakes…terrible traffic will become the norm
People dont all drive to the lakes in the same half hr window during the summer
yes, they seem to
Bachelors usfs permit requires them to reduce single vehicle trips on CL hwy but you dont see anything about that in their press release, their shuttle system is an abomination and a primary reason for the insane traffic and numerous sometimes tragic crashes
link or not true….plus I don’t believe a thing you post.
Really? Really!?!? But you’ll buy whatever fecal slurry of an excuse for Madame Cleo they care to serve you. Winner.
our once small town is long gone
Bachelors only been open for 60 some years 🤔
I’m talking about the town, not the Mt mr rocket scientist
We need to make more cheap housing available now!
Not a lot of oregon plates in these lines of cars fyi
I’d say 3 out of 5 cars were WA or CA. Some blame Icon Pass.
The wait to get into the DMV to change your plates over is atrocious. Thanks COVID.
Yeah…and how about more short term rentals!
What was once a happy little place is now a mad stupid town.
MT B… First of all is ridiculously overpriced. Period. Dont / won’t ski there because of their prices and other reasons. They could easily offer a local pass/ or bundled ticket options, but they gouge instead. ($109 week day ticket or $149 weekend). What!?
Increased traffic from Washington…can be put down to their “winter/president” week-long holiday. It’s been in effect since the early 90’s. They can’t travel to Canada so they come here.
lol I’m glad I live here when you could ski powder for days after a storm and fly down thunderbird on 223’s pissing off summit man and no lift lines And land could be bought for less then $1000 a acre
Baaaaaa!🐑🐑🐑