BEND — Mt. Bachelor ski area will open two weeks ahead of schedule Friday, Nov. 15, making it the earliest opening for the ski area since 1998.

The opening Friday and through the weekend will be for pass holders only and will include Skyliner and Little Pine lifts. Nordic pass holders will also have early exclusive access to the cross country trails for the weekend. The ski area will close again Nov. 18 and reopen to all users the following weekend, Nov. 22-24, with $50 lift tickets. Daily operations will begin the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 29.

“I couldn’t be more excited to kick off the season with our passholders on Friday,” said John Merriman, Mt. Bachelor president and general manager, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to open earlier than expected, and to give our passholders a weekend to celebrate together. I want to thank our teams for making this happen; it was a big push and I’m so proud of everyone. We are ready to make this the best season yet.”

Mt. Bachelor has seen more than 40 inches of early season snowfall, with more in the forecast this week. This is in contrast to the 2023/2024 season, when a lack of snowfall caused the resort to open late and then close again due to unfavorable conditions.

Apart from the announced open days, the mountain will be closed to the public, including all uphill travel, for pre-season maintenance work. Last year, Mt. Bachelor instituted a new uphill travel policy that requires all skiers and snowboarders to acquire a free uphill pass if hiking or skinning up the mountain.

The move was controversial, raising questions about what authority the ski area has to police public lands. However, Mt. Bachelor has an active special-use authorization with the Forest Service, which allows the ski area to impose regulations in that area, and many long-time uphill skiers understood the sense in the move.

“We worked really closely with the U.S. Forest Service on developing this policy where you are required to sign a waiver and wear an armband. They are 100% supportive. Ultimately this is the industry standard,” Mt. Bachelor spokesperson Lauren Burke said when the policy was instituted last year.

In August, Mt. Bachelor’s owner, Powdr Corp., announced it would sell the Central Oregon ski area along with several other of the company’s properties. The Utah-based corporation said it could take more than six months to make the sale, and a local effort to buy Bend’s beloved ski hill has gained increasing popularity in the past few months.

The resulting effort, Mt. Bachelor Community Inc., exceeded fundraising goals in October by raising more than $40,000 to pay lawyers and accountants. Filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission would officially create the structure for Mt. Bachelor Community Inc. to solicit investments the company would use to buy the mountain.

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