Bend, Oregon — After being put up for sale a few years ago, POWDR decided against selling Mt. Bachelor last year. Instead, it has shifted its focus to upgrading the region’s largest ski resort. This offseason’s main project is happening with one of the ski resort’s main workhorses.
This offseason, Mt. Bachelor is refurbishing the Northwest Chairlift. Constructed in 1996, the high-speed quad chairlift has experienced reliability issues in recent years.
The plan for this offseason is to upgrade the utility power and replace the auxiliary power unit, electric motor, and interior equipment. The communication and fiber lines will be buried underground, mitigating potential weather-related issues. The lift shacks will be replaced with a more modern, multi-floor setup. The chair storage facility will be enlarged to protect the chairs from the elements. A new maintenance garage will be built, allowing crewmembers to assess and repair carriers. They also plan to do some painting and upgrade the signage. Some things won’t be changing, such as the chairs, towers, haul rope, and terminals.
“These upgrades are going to make a huge difference for our guests and operations teams,” said Dustin Smith, Mt. Bachelor’s Director of Mountain Operations, last month. “We’re wrapping up routine maintenance this spring and will work throughout summer and fall to get everything wrapped up prior to the 2026/27 season.”
“We updated utility power to the bottom of Northwest, providing increased voltage and power supply to that area of the mountain. We’re also replacing the bull wheel bearings, removing the park rail, and performing terminal alignments this month [of May].”
Perhaps the most interesting addition is the installation of a night drive system. This will allow Bachelor the chairlift to run at night without the carriers, reducing the ice buildup.
“At the end of the night, we’ll take all the chairs off the lift, and then the rope will be able to run so that when we have icy and snowy days, it’ll be much easier for our team to clear the ice,” said John Merriman, Mt. Bachelor President and General Manager to the Central Oregon Daily News. “We can just load the chairs on and they’re ready to go. It’ll get us open a lot faster.”
The goal is to complete the project by this fall.
This Summer & Upcoming Winter
Getting a start on this project was one of the few positives of Mt. Bachelor’s season ending early. Typically concluding its season around Memorial Day, Bachelor ended its 2025-26 season on April 19th. Mt. Bachelor hopes to open for the 2026-27 season on November 28th. In the meantime, summer operations are set to begin on June 25th. Summer activities at the Oregon ski resort include mountain biking, scenic lift rides, zipline tours, and hiking trails.
Image/Video Credits: Mt. Bachelor, Central Oregon Daily News
