It’s pretty safe to say there’s something for every rider at the Mt Bachelor Ski Resort.
Whether you like to ride the trails, the backcountry, tree runs or the terrain park you’ll feel right at home here. There’s also plenty for the beginner.
Bachelor, located in Oregon, USA near the town of Bend, has great yearly snowfall (462 inches [11.7 metres] and impressive winds that create varied and interesting terrain.
Mountain Stats
| Mt Bachelor Mountain Stats |
| Resort Elevation: 2,763m (9,065ft) |
| Vertical Drop: 1,006m (3,300ft) |
| Ride-able area: 3,683 acres |
| No. of Lifts: 11 (10 chairlifts, 1 magic carpet) |
| No. of trails: 88 |
| Trail proportions: |
| 13 (15%) Beginner (Green) |
| 22 (25%) Intermediate (Blue) |
| 31 (35%) Advanced (Black Diamond) |
| 22 (25%) Expert (Double Black Diamond) |
| No. of parks: 6 + pipe |
| Night Riding: No |
Mt Bachelor has no shortage of terrain – in fact, it’s huge! 3,683 acres of ride-able terrain and a 3,300 foot (1,000m) vertical drop. With all that terrain it makes for some awesome crowd free riding.
Bachelor has a high elevation at 9,065 feet (2,763m) which is actually the elevation of the summit. That’s right, you can board straight down from the summit – and not only that you can board in any direction from the summit – yep, 360 degrees.
The lift access is to around 65 feet (20m) below the summit but a short hike will get you there. How many places do you know where you can ride off the summit of a volcano!
If you want to go off the summit just make sure you go on a non windy day. High winds means that the summit express lift is often on hold.
Free-riding and Trails
With 80+ named runs there is a really good variety if you like to stick to the trails – and with more than enough space for beginner, intermediate and advanced riders to take advantage of.
If you prefer to leave the trails in search of greater adventure you won’t be disappointed either. There is ample backcountry riding on offer and those winds have moulded a spectacular playground full of lips, hits, drops, chutes and tree runs (o.k. the wind didn’t create the trees but you get my drift!)
Due to it’s size the trail map is split up into four different views. The trail map below shows Southeast, Southwest, Northeast and Northwest views.
Terrain Parks
Bachelor’s natural wave like terrain shaped by nature helps to mould the terrain parks. And there’s no shortage of them. 6 in total plus a half pipe.
Add to that an abundance of natural terrain to ride freestyle on, and this is a haven for freestylers to savour.
There are 4 parks in the central terrain park area – all accessible from the Skyliner Express lift. Pacific city, Seaside and Cannon Beach all contain features for all park riding ability levels. The Point is for advanced riders only and contains some of the largest features at Bachelor.
There is also 1 park in the east terrain park area named Short Sands. This is for beginner park riders and is accessible from the Sunrise Express lift and Rainbow lift.
Finally there is 1 park and a pipe in the west terrain park area. This is where events take place. The Events Arena park switches between a slopestyle course and a bordercross course depending on event.
Find something that Mt Bachelor is missing – I dare you! The great all rounder is no exaggeration.
Night Riding
There’s no night riding – o.k. so it’s missing one thing, you got me 🙂
Where to Stay
Check out the page at the link below to learn more about lodging at Mt Bachelor
How to Get There
Mt Bachelor is located 30 minutes drive west of Bend, Oregon and a 3 and a half hour drive south east of Portland, Oregon.
Flying:
The closest airport is in Redmond which is about a 50 minutes drive to Mt Bachelor and a 20 minute drive north of Bend. Depending on where you are flying from, expect at least one layover.
Direct flights operate from Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City & Denver.
Driving:
Please note that there are limited routes in winter with some roads closed so be careful when using google maps or GPS systems. Bachelor can only be reached in winter by going through Bend or Sunriver.
From Bend: 28 minutes
From Sunriver: 33 minutes
From Redmond: 49 minutes
From Eugene: 2hrs 45 minutes without traffic (expect longer with traffic and winter conditions)
From Corvallis: 2 hours 50 minutes – longer with traffic and winter conditions
From Portland: 3 hours 25 minutes without traffic but allow for 4 hours plus for traffic and winter conditions
From Medford: 3 hours 21 minutes without traffic
By Bus:
You can get the Berg’s bus service from Eugene on Saturday’s, Wednesday’s and Holidays.
There is also a bus from Corvallis that operates on selected Saturday’s and Holidays.
Shuttle from Bend:
There is a shuttle that runs between Bend and Mt Bachelor so you don’t have to worry about driving. It’s $5 one way , $9 return or $40 for a 10 trip ticket.
Checkout the Bachelor shuttle page for more details and scheduled times.
Usual opening date
Opening date is really steady – usually mide-late November. The snowmaking facilities plus high altitude are likely to be the reason for this.
Past 5 years opening dates:
2010/2011 Season: November 24, 2010
2011/2012 Season: November 23, 2011
2012/2013 Season: November 22, 2012
2013/2014 Season: November 23, 2013
2014/2015 Season: November 24, 2014
Usual closing date
Closing dates are also pretty uniform with closing date usually the end of May – so that’s a solid 6 months open. In fact last year Mt Bachelor was open 182 days!
Past 5 years closing dates:
2010/2011 Season: May 31, 2011 (plus summer weekend July 2-4, 2011)
2011/2012 Season: May 27, 2012 (plus summer weekend)
2012/2013 Season: May 26, 2013
2013/2014 Season: May 25, 2014
2014/2015 Season: Yet to close (scheduled to close 24/5/15)
Opening Hours
Whether permitted the lifts run from 9am to 4pm, 7 days a week.
Have You Had the Pleasure to Experience Mt Bachelor?
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of snowboarding at Mount Bachelor I’d love to hear what you thought. Any other questions, feedback or suggestions always welcomed too.
Photo Credit
Top: Photo by Sarah Garber [CC BY 2.0], via Flikr
Terrain Park: Photo by Zack Winters [CC BY 2.0], via Flikr
I’ve never been here, but it looks amazing! So beautiful. I really wnat to try skiing/snowboarding this winter so your site is super helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Jenny. Thanks for your input. I think you should definitely get on a board when you do try it – forget the double planks! 🙂
I have not had the great pleasure of snowboarding at Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort but…it I have put in my list right after reading this review! Beautiful views, nice terrains, free riding and trails…what else can a snowboarder ask for?? Thanks for sharing!
Hilda
Hi Hilda – couldn’t agree more, not much that Bachelor is missing. Thanks for dropping by and checking out the post.