I Love Mt. Bachelor

I love Mt. Bachelor.  It's my most favorite place to ski in Oregon.

The Three Sisters all lined up in a row

The mountain is located on the eastern side of the Cascades.  This makes for a more arid climate, which in turn means drier, powdery snow.  Way better than the wet, icy snow common to Mt. Hood.  Just one of the reasons I love Mt. Bachelor.

Mt. Bachelor summit looks down on the bunny slope

I usually ski Bachelor over the Christmas season.  But due to the skimpy snowfall, I passed on this year's Holiday break.  Massive storms over a week in mid-January, brought the mountain back up to a respectable snow coverage.  Time to head over for a visit.  (I love Mt. Bachelor!)

Skiers tracks make cool patterns on a slope

So last weekend found me traveling over the mountains headed for Bend.  The weather forecast was for sunny skies.  Perfect!  There's always more sunshine at Mt. Bachelor.

Broken Top Mtn watches over the skiers

Saturday morning I stopped for gas on the way out of town.  As I bounced out of my car, the gas station attendant remarked "you're sure in a happy mood."  It told him "yep, I'm going skiing - at Mt. Bachelor!" 

Could there be a more wonderful view from a ski area?

My tank full, I hit the road for Bachelor.  From the town of Bend, it's a short 20-mile trip to the ski area.  Compared to the usual 1 1/2 to 2 hour journey from my house to Hood, this drive is a breeze.  (I love Mt. Bachelor!)

The Pine Marten Lodge, located mid-mountain

I arrived at the parking lot to clear, bright skies.  Mt. Bachelor gleamed white in the sunlight.  Time to put on my skis and make some turns! 

Late afternoon shadows

A sunny Saturday at Mt. Bachelor brought out the fair weather skiers in droves.  The main lift was a swarm of bodies.  But I parked myself in the singles line and was on a chair in no time.  Fast-moving lifts - I love Mt. Bachelor!

The Pine Marten Lodge has a commanding view of South Sister

Mt. Bachelor has seven lifts, and they were all in operation that day.  The in-bounds portion of the ski area takes up roughly 2/3 of the mountain, so there's lots of room for people to spread out.  Even though the main lift might be busy, just ski over to another area and chances are you'll avoid a lift line.  That's exactly what I did.  I skied over to the Skyliner lift, and in less than five minutes I was back on the chair.  (I love Mt. Bachelor.)

Broken Top and the top of the cone

One of the best things about skiing Bachelor on a sunny day is the views.  A parade of snow-capped volcanoes line the northern horizon.  To the Northwest, the Three Sisters vie for your attention, and Broken Top mountain anchors the Northeast.  To the east, a lovely panorama of the high desert plain spreads out before you.  And of course you can't miss the in-your-face view of Mt. Bachelor's summit crater.  What fantastic sights!  (I love Mt. Bachelor.)

Lenticular cloud over the mountains

I had the most wonderful day making laps on Mt. Bachelor's trails.  Although it hadn't snowed for several days, there were lots of impeccably groomed runs to choose from.  And even off the groom, the snow was soft enough to make some decent turns.  I traveled all over the mountain and managed to tire myself out quite nicely!  Lots of fun places to ski - I love Mt. Bachelor.

Dale ready for some skiing action!

My brother Dale, who lives in Bend, was busy on Saturday, so I skied solo.  But Sunday he was able to join me.  Although the weather was quite windy, we still had nice blue skies.  (I love Mt. Bachelor!)

Checking out the clouds over the peaks

And the views were just as grand.  The high winds caused cool lenticular clouds to form over the Three Sisters.  It looked like the mountains were wearing white cloudy caps.

Dale takes a breather

Dale is a lot of fun to ski with.  We're pretty evenly matched in our abilities, and enjoy the same type of terrain.  I had a wonderful morning tearing up the slopes with Dale.  And - the high winds scared away all the fair weather skiers, so we practically had the place to ourselves.  On a Sunday!  (I love Mt. Bachelor.)

Chili fries!  The lunch of skiing champions!

We got kind of a late start, so Dale and I talked about skiing through lunch.  But every time we came up the lift, we caught a whiff of burgers cooking from the mid-mountain lodge.  Each lift ride, the burgers began to smell better and better.  Around noon, it became too much, and I gave into temptation.  I suggested to Dale we stop for a bite.  Inside the lodge I saw something that sounded so good, I just had to have it, even though it was the most greasy, unhealthy thing I could eat.  Chili-fries!  And they were fantastic. (Even though I paid for it later, it was worth it!)  Ummmm......a mid-mountain lodge with great food.  (I love Mt. Bachelor!)

Oh yeah - I'm in my happy place

So I had a wonderful time enjoying the long runs, sunny skies, and magnificent views at Mt. Bachelor.  I head later from one of my friends that Hood had lousy weather all weekend.  It even rained on Sunday.  Did I pick the right time to ski Bachelor?  Yes, yes and YES!  I love Mt. Bachelor so much, I wish I could ski there every weekend.

Have I told you how much I love Mt. Bachelor?   :)