‘January has come with a bang’: Mt. Bachelor gets an influx of snow for skiers, boarders to enjoy

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) --  Mt. Bachelor has seen an influx of snow this month. Hundreds of cars filled the parking lot as people woke up bright and early Saturday, ready to strap their on boots and hop on a lift. 

"Seeing snow come down in January of this month has been so exciting," Lauren Burke, Mt. Bachelor's director of marketing and communications said Saturday. "You know, we had a slow start in December, but January has come with a bang."

Bachelor has seen more than 100 inches of snow in January alone, and another 3-7 inches of fresh snow was expected to fall Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.  

Every day is different in the ski industry. Mt. Bachelor can experience strong winds, warmer temperatures and icing on the lifts.

Burke said, "We've heard some people say it was some of the more extreme weather they've seen in the last 20 years. But it is starting to settle down, and to get days like this where the snow is kind of falling straight down -- that's what we like to see."

 Staff assess conditions every morning and plan operations accordingly.

Mt. Bachelor offers more than 4,000 acres to ski or shred down. And for Seattle resident Will Frye, Mt. Bachelor is a place he visits often. 

"We got here early this morning, like 8:30 -- not as early as we could have," Frye said. "Powder was not super great, as a little hard-packed."

And Bachelor is a second home to locals. 

Bend residents Julian Hamilton, Philip Hamilton and Dennis Szigeti all rode down the slopes together.

Julian said, "We had some great days so far, but today probably wasn't one of the better ones. Tomorrow is looking really good. Last weekend, the weekend before were amazing in the powder."

Dennis said, "Phil's the guy to ask. He's been up for 26 days already."

Philip said, "Today's my 26th day." I asked him, "Are you planning to make tomorrow your 27th?"

"Yeah, it'll be 27 days tomorrow," he said. 

Burke added, "We've seen freezing rain in town and icing on the roads, which definitely is deterring some people to come up here. But we have amazing public transportation options."

Along with a CET shuttle to and from the resort, Mt. Bachelor offers a free inter-lodge shuttle for free, to connect guests between the West Village, Skyliner and Sunrise parking lots and lodges. Operations for the shuttle start at 8:15 a.m.