BEND, Ore. — Each winter, I usually wait until January to go skiing. I want to avoid the holiday crowds and wait until the snowpack is in decent shape and most of the chairlifts are open.
This year, I did not make a ski trip until Jan. 16, the latest I’ve waited for winter skiing since I moved to Bend in 2001.
My kids, both in middle school, have been busy with basketball, soccer and running, and the increasing crowds and expensive lift tickets have been a turn-off.
When I moved to Bend from Eugene 21 years ago, I bought an Express Pass to Mt. Bachelor ski area. Some of you longtime locals might remember those. I don’t recall the exact amounts, but essentially you would pay $30 to $40 to get the pass, and then each time you went to the mountain $30 to $40 would be deducted from your debit card or charged to your credit card.
It was affordable, even for a kid in his early 20s just out of college. It’s not really affordable anymore. But in September, I bought a four-day pass to Bachelor for $299, which is a good deal considering a daily lift ticket for a Saturday or Sunday is now $159.
But before I sound like an old-timer complaining about prices, back to the skiing. My sister and her partner, Tony Barnes, both of Vancouver, were coming to Bend for a long weekend, and Tony wanted to go skiing. I suggested Hoodoo Ski Area near Sisters.
I had not been to Hoodoo in about four years, and Barnes had not been in 22 years, so this would be a relatively fresh experience for both of us.
It would be Barnes’ first day of skiing this season as well, as he was also in a sort of ski funk, wanting to avoid the crushing crowds at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort, where he typically skis.
Our bright, bluebird day at Hoodoo turned out to be a wonderful reminder of why we love skiing. Sure, the hill is relatively small and the chairlifts slow, but Hoodoo offers a relaxing, laid-back vibe even on a crowded weekend. While the ski area on Santiam Pass has historically drawn most of its visitors from the Willamette Valley, more and more skiers and snowboarders from Central Oregon are discovering the benefits of Hoodoo: steep, deep and cheap.
For about the last decade, Hoodoo has hosted an increasing number of skiers and snowboarders from Bend and Redmond, according to Hoodoo general manager Matthew McFarland. Now it gets about as many snow riders from Central Oregon as it does from the valley population centers of Eugene and Salem.
“Our Central Oregon numbers have been going up quite a bit,” McFarland said. “We’re getting a lot more visitation from the Central Oregon addresses. The number has definitely skewed more toward the closer crowd as the Bend and Redmond populations have increased. It’s really gone up quite a bit in the last decade.”
Our lift tickets were $70 each. We were a little worried after making the 45-mile drive northwest of Bend and arriving at a packed parking lot.
“I was concerned when I saw the parking lot getting completely filled up, but the lift wait was never too bad and the lodge not too crowded,” Barnes said later.
Ski seasons can be hit and miss at Hoodoo, which has a base elevation of 4,668 feet. But several December storms gave the ski area the snowpack it needed for a solid season and to push through nearly a month of clear days without snow in January. Hoodoo’s website reported a 55-inch base recently.
During our day at Hoodoo on Jan. 16, we enjoyed fast, groomed slopes that softened as the day progressed. We found soft, springlike corn snow on the south side of the hill on a run called Crater off the Big Green Machine chairlift, which takes skiers to the top of the mountain. That side of the resort was nearly devoid of any other skiers or boarders, and we soaked in the sun and solitude as our skis carved through the buttery snow.
Hoodoo also features relatively steep terrain that allows skiers and riders to keep their momentum through deep snow, whether it’s winter powder or springlike corn.
“It was a great day,” Barnes said. “It was great doing laps on the south side of the mountain — fun, open terrain with a constant view of Mount Washington and the Three Sisters.”
