OVER 60 YEARS IN THE MAKING...
Bill Healy founded Mt. Bachelor Ski Area December 19, 1958 with a rope tow and a single lift. Mt. Bachelor has since grown to be one of the largest ski resorts in the U.S. The resort boasts a wide variety of terrain, allowing guests to ski or ride 360 degrees off the summit, hike the adjoining cinder cone for a well-earned run down, or ski the trees off the western bowls to find that great cache of powder.
ORIGINS
1928
Winter sports in the Cascades begins when Scandinavian lumber workers who came to central Oregon from the Great Lakes States and from Europe, form the Bend Skyliners Mountaineering Club, a ski jump 11 miles west of Bend – original members include: Nels Skjersaa, Emil Nordeen, Nils Wulfberg, and Chris Kostol.
1940's
During World War II, Americans learned a great deal about European mountaineering through combat in the Alps. The Army created the 10th Mountain Division as an elite force of ski-troopers. Veterans of this organization influenced the winter sports business throughout the United States after the war.
1950-54
Bill Healy, who had skied in the Cascades prior to his service with the 10th Mountain Division, moves his furniture business from Portland to Bend and becomes active in "The Skyliners", an elite outing club. The dream of turning Bachelor Butte into a ski resort is born in the hearts of Healy and Gene Gillis, another Skyliner member, on a Sunday afternoon on Healy’s front porch.
1956-58
Mt Bachelor, Inc. is formed – Bill Healy serves as President, Phillip Gould as Vice President, Dr. Bradford N. Pease as Treasurer and Richard H.M. Hickok as Secretary. Don Peters, a USFS and Skyliner member, tackles the environmental side of the dream, Healy works on funding. After an environmental study involving a few Skyliners' members and the Soil Conservation Service, Bachelor Butte is deemed to be the perfect location for a ski area with a snowpack of 17 feet per year and a location on the dry, eastern side of the Cascades, its potential for powder snow and sunshine provided ideal characteristics for a successful operation. A 30-year special use permit is granted by the USFS. $25 shares are sold to 180 people to produce the $100,000 needed for start-up. No small task in a town of 12,000.
1958 — BACHELOR BUTTE SKI AREA OPENS
WINTER 1958-59
Bachelor Butte ski area opens Oct. 18 with one 3,900 foot pomalift, two rope tows and a 30 x 50-foot day lodge, named Egan Lodge after Forest Service supervisor, James Egan. The opening is marked with an official ceremony on Dec. 19. The first season nets a total of 29,000 skier visits and is open 86 days. Heavy snow blocked the use of the slopes for 5 days. Daily tickets are $3, individual season passes are $50 and family season passes are $85. Cliff Blann serves as manager of Bachelor Butte.
1960's — EXPANSION
1962
The first chairlift is installed, appropriately titled Chair #1 (later named Black chair), which rises to an elevation of 7,700 feet. The project cost an astronomical $100,000, the same price as the initial resort start-up.
1973
Green double chair (originally named Button chair) and Orange triple chair (originally named Murray Meadows chair) installed.
1974-75
Ski Carpool Parking Lot is built at Mt. Bachelor Village with the land, work, and equipment donated by local businessmen worried about the possible effects of a loss of winter tourists due to gas shortage. 257,000 skier visits.
1982-83
Bachelor Butte has over 500,000 skier visits. Summit Express triple chairlift is completed which extends the ski season in August. Ski area's name officially becomes Mt. Bachelor. Nordic day lodge is built.
1986-87
Pine Marten Express debuts as the first high-speed quad lift in the Northwest U.S., replacing the Black double chair. Outback Express quad lift opens with four new runs, Outback double chair retired. Guest Services building is built.
1988
Bill Healy steps down as President of Mt. Bachelor and is replaced by David Marsh. Pine Marten Lodge is built.
1991
Century Drive highway is expanded from two to four lanes from the Sunriver junction to the ski area.
1996-97
Northwest Express quad lift and 10 new runs open; Mt. Bachelor opens new transit center in Bend to transport skiers to the mountain. Summit Express triple converted to express quad lift.
2001
Park City, Utah based Powdr Corp. purchases Mt. Bachelor Ski Area. Dan Rutherford, former Vice President, replaces Randy Pape as General Manager. Snowblast Tubing Park opens.
2010-11
Mt. Bachelor receives record high 665" of snowfall, surpassing the 606" record from 1998-99.
2013
New 10 year Master Development Plan approved by the USFS. Approved projects include Summer Downhill Mountain Bike Park, Zip Line, eastside quad lift and trails, replacement of Rainbow and Sunrise lifts, and new/larger Sunrise Lodge & expanded Sunrise parking.
2016
Cloudchaser Lift line is completed and opens to the public, offering 6.2 miles of groomed runs and 635 acres of new skiable terrain. This addition made Mt. Bachelor the 6th largest ski resort in the United States.
2018
Mt. Bachelor celebrates its 60th anniversary.
2020
Mt. Bachelor opens the ZipTour zip line, a unique mountain experience that was a decade-long collaborative project between Mt. Bachelor and the USFS. This dual-line, three-stage tour launches from an elevation of 7,800 feet above the tree line at the top of Pine Marten lift and drops nearly 1,400 vertical feet along the volcano’s slopes to make it the Northwest’s steepest, fastest, and highest-elevation zip adventure.
2023
The original Skyliner Express from 1989 was torn down and replaced with a new 6-pack lift, increasing the uphill capacity and allowing the chair to operate in higher wind speeds. Construction lasted roughly 8 months and was largely completed by in-house labor working alongside engineers from Doppelmayr. Skyliner Express is the first 6-pack lift at Mt. Bachelor.