3 days Ago
O n a recent weekday morning at Powder House Ski Shop in Bend, a half dozen technicians behind the rental counter were busily working on skis for customers eager to hit the slopes this winter. It’s a fluid operation. One was behind a grinding machine flattening the bottom of a ski.
Another tech was sharpening ski edges. Across the room, an infrared heat machine was being used to apply wax to skis. A binding calibration machine was available to test the correct release of the boot.
“When the snow started falling, everybody needed to get their stuff waxed and or repaired, so service work has been busy,” said Christian Harris, a manager at Powder House. The ski season in Central Oregon is off to its earliest start in more than two decades and excitement is brewing in Bend’s ski shops. Mt.
Bachelor ski area opened last weekend for pass holders and is planning to open Friday through Sunday for the general public before closing Monday to prepare for the full season opening on Nov. 29. Hoodoo ski area plans to open next week, the day after Thanksgiving.
“It is fantastic; it has been super positive,” said Todd McGee, co-owner of Powder House. Mt. Bachelor reported a season total of 107 inches of snow as of Thursday morning, with a base of 59 inches.
The early-season start helps ski shops employ more people and gets revenue banked in a weather-dependent business that could slow down if the season stalls. Service work on downhill skis is up 50% to 60% compared to November a year ago and work on Nordic skis has doubled, said McGee. Michael Martin, of Bend, who is a ski tech at Skjersaa’s Ski and Snowboard Shop, uses an edge sharpener while tuning skis Monday afternoon.
Down the road from the Powder House, at Skjersaa’s Ski & Snowboard Shop, Manager Gary Crosswhite took a break from working on a pair of skis. Foot traffic into the store has been steady all month and there is plenty of work for the store’s 13 employees. Crosswhite described his relief for early season snow and the turnaround from a year ago, when Mt.
Bachelor endured a late start and then inconsistent snow in December. Hoodoo Ski Area also had a delayed start last season — its operations didn’t get going until January. “It’s everything for our business.
Last November the mountain wasn’t even close to being open,” said Crosswhite. “We are already renting skis, tuning skis and doing everything it takes to get people on the mountain right here in November.” Crosswhite said 60% of the business is done between November and January, so the head start is a good sign for a profitable year.
“If we don’t have snow, we are extremely affected. So this is awesome.” Early-season snow has become increasingly rare in recent years as Central Oregon has suffered from drought for most of this decade.
“I grew up trick-or-treating with snow on the ground, but I haven’t seen that in my adult years,” said Harris, who grew up in Bend. “We all live for the winter. That is why we all like being here.
” Snow piles up around the Pine Marten lift at Mt. Bachelor ski area on Tuesday. Early season snow is allowing an earlier than usual opening of the ski area.
Strong snowpack has an added benefit beyond increased revenue and more ski days, said Eric Holmer, owner of Race Place, a Bend ski shop specializing in race gear. If the snow levels continue to rise, youth and high school ski racing teams can spread out across more of the mountain this year, without having to share runs. “There will be plenty of runs that can be dedicated to training courses, so all the different programs and different levels in the community can get what they need when they need it,” Holmer said.
Storms this week could bring record levels of snowpack for this time of year at some measuring stations in the Upper Deschutes Basin, according to Matt Warbritton, supervisory hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. “We are very early in the snow season, but it certainly has started off with a bang,” he said. As of Wednesday, snowpack in the Upper Deschutes Basin is over 400% of normal, according to data compiled by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Irish Taylor Snotel site, which measures snowpack at 5,540 feet of elevation near Mount Bachelor, has a snow depth of 42 inches. Statewide, Warbritton said, Oregon has experienced its highest snowpack levels to-date since 1995, an El Niño year that brought massive snowpack across the West. The enthusiasm of the ski shops is echoed by skiers and snowboarders watching the weather and pinning hopes on a solid season of skiing.
“Looking forward to all the powder, it’s supposed to be a really good year,” said Casey Westerhoff, a sophomore at Summit High School who was getting his skis tuned at Powder House. “It’s the earliest we’ve opened in a really long time, so I am excited about that.” Larry O’Neil, an associate professor at Oregon State University’s College of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Science, said the current weather patterns and recent snow formed during a “neutral state,” between La Niña and El Niño.
“We have not actually entered a La Niña state yet, and chances of one developing this winter are about even,” said O’Neil. A neutral state offers an even chance for above-average precipitation and snowpack in the Cascades and Central Oregon. O’Neil added a caveat that no weather pattern follows an exact trend and cautions that a great start to the snow season doesn’t always last.
O’Neil said temperatures of the incoming weather systems are above normal and could result in a mix of rain and snow at mountain pass levels. “In any event, the forecasts and outlooks over the next two weeks predict much wetter than normal weather throughout Oregon as a series of atmospheric rivers are projected to impact the Pacific Northwest,” said O’Neil. Back at Powder House, McGee, the shop’s owner, said some of his workers are getting paid overtime this season and working long hours to keep up with demand.
To keep the ski techs energized he has been bringing in evening meals to keep them on top of their game. Shop employees have been gobbling up slices of pizza, chicken drumsticks and the occasional sandwich while on breaks from the daily ski grind. “The energy is crazy,” said McGee.
“Everybody is super stoked.”.
