Mt. Bachelor’s first snowfall of season ‘a bit more than expected,’ brings operational challenges

Update: Adding video, comment from Bachelor official, visitors)

'I miss the snow, so this is just an extra treat for today'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- After this weekend's rainfall, Central Oregon woke up to some beautiful snow on the Cascades.

The snow in the upper elevations made for a few operational challenges at Mt. Bachelor.

For instance, mountain bikers like Landon Fox were left hanging.

"Bummed out I can't bike today,” Fox told NewsChannel 21 on Monday after he was told the lift for bike park access was closed.

With two days still before the official start of fall, Mt. Bachelor's bike park closed Monday, because of snow.

The resort's director of brand and marketing, Leigh Capozzi, said, “We had this great first dusting of snow that blanketed the mountain. A little bit more than anticipated."

Down at the base area of Mt Bachelor, they really didn't get that much accumulation of snow. But the higher elevations around the top of the Pine Marten Lift were blanketed in a light layer of snow.

Capozzi said because of the storms, lift operations were shut down over the weekend. Now it’s dealing with the aftermath. Find more operation details here.

"We've had some melt-out on the bottom, and our operations teams are working on manually trying to get bike park trails cleared off," she said.

While mountain bikers were sidelined, hikers and zip-liners were a go, with quite a view.

Jay Lusby, who zip-lined Monday, said, "I miss the snow, so this is just an extra treat for today."

Gordon Hertwig, who hiked at the mountain, said, "There were places where it was ankle-deep."

Mountain bikers could still use the smaller skill development area. But the snow is an enticing look ahead to winter.

"Every time we get a little bit of snow in September, it's a reminder that, 'Oh I should drop in on my season pass for the season,’" Capozzi said.

She said winter pass sales took a bump over the weekend.