Mt. Bachelor opening day arrives with snow, sun and pandemic, parking changes

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- As skiers and snowboarders made their way to Mt. Bachelor on Monday, opening day for pass-holders, they no doubt noticed some changes on the sunny slopes, like signs telling riders to wear a mask and practice social distancing.

Resort Brand and Marketing Director Leigh Capozzi said the resort had to make some well-publicized changes, to keep everyone safe.

"We are not tubing this year," she noted. "We are not having day care this year."

She also said those looking to satisfy their hunger while at the mountain may see some differences.

"We have no food and beverage inside, so we have food cart pods at Sunrise and West Village," she said.

And for those seeking to warm up, it may have to come back at the car.

Capozzi said, "With lodge space limited this year, it is not guaranteed that you can get inside for warming space. Restrooms are open in lodges, but we do have monitors managing the number of folks that are inside lodges."

Skiers on the slopes told NewsChannel 21 they felt safe having their winter fun.

One told NewsChannel 21, "I think everybody is respecting the mask rule, and you've got people out their reminding everybody, 'Over the nose or we're going to have to close' -- they're saying something like that. But everybody seems to be taking it really seriously."

And while NewsChannel 21 did receive a couple of complaints about the parking reservation systems (about there being no spaces left), others, like Deanna Brodsky of Bend, didn't seem to mind the new setup.

"I thought there would be a limitation issue, or something of that nature, maybe we didn't do it with enough notice," she said. "But nothing like that, we got here easy-peasy. I thought there would be so much traffic, but there was absolutely none."

Overall, skiers and snowboarders appeared to just be happy to be back on the slopes.