Mt. Bachelor - This Weekend?

M

markiel

New member
I'm thinking of making a drive from San Francisco up to Mt. Bachelor this weekend.

Tahoe seems to be too far south to get much from this storm and Bachelor is only 8-9 hours away.

Two questions:

1) Do you all expect the higher lifts on Bachelor to open on Saturday or Sunday? I know that the Summit chair tends to close a lot due to high winds.

2) How is the drive up from California? Are there a lot of treacherous passes between the Bay Area and Bend? I have a 4 wd, just not sure about delays if I need to traverse a number of passes on two lane highways.

Thanks for any insights...
 
1) Read this NOAA forecast. Get in your car and drive.
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... it=0&lg=en
No, Summit will not be open on Saturday. An outside chance on Sunday. We have had very little to get excited about lately so expect company!

2) This is a rather long and $hitty drive from the Bay Area, but you get to hang out with cool Oregonians (not me, I'm Cali) and, of course, drink pints of the good.

This week's picks: Crux Outcast IPA (Bend), Manny's Pale Ale (Seattle) and Boneyard RPM (Bend).

Enjoy!
 
I have not been to Bachelor for more than 10 years, but did ski there in the 80s after Summit was added and in the late 60s/early 70s as my grandparents lived in the area. You are on I-5 until Weed, CA where you turn off on US-97 for Klamath Falls and Bend. You turn before the biggest pass on I-5 which is between Yreka and the OR border. US-97 is only two-lanes from I-5 to Bend without any real passes, but there is up and down as you cross some ridges and minor passes. It's mostly straight and somewhat level. If it's storming with low snow levels, you could have some snow on the road from I-5 all the way to Bend (or Sunriver, where there is a slight shortcut to Bachelor). It's a long drive for a weekend. If Tahoe season does not improve in March, I may consider a trip there.
 
Thanks for the feedback...

I've been tracking the weather forecast, which is what has me considering the trek...

Schwuba - Will there be enough terrain open on Saturday & Sunday to make the trip worthwhile? Can I expect to get some good freshies in the trees, or will the competition be super fierce? I usually avoid Squaw Valley on powder days, because it seems to ski out by 10 am.

Tseeb - On the roads - HWY 97 - is it usually well plowed or should I expect 200 miles pioneering through an unmaintained 2-laner?

If conditions are good and depending upon any travelling buddies that I can recruit - I may be able to stay through Monday afternoon to get 3 days in to make it a little more worthwhile.
 
Markiel,

Mt. Bachelor is no Squaw Valley in regards to getting loads of fun turns this weekend as the forecast looks to be quite promising. The trees here are nicely spaced and you can farm for hours. I wouldn't worry about crowds too much, especially the weekend after President's. Just get started early for the best selection.

The Hwy 97 stretch isn't that trecherous but the lighting is poor and there are always trucks kicking up spray on snowy nights. Read the Forecast Discussion on that NOAA page to get a feel for the timing of the lowering snow levels. You may have to drive in snow from Weed all the way to Bend if you leave too late. Also, check out Trip Check for cams and temps.

It may turn out to be the best conditions in over a month this weekend; I'm not staying home!
 
Thanks for the feedback Schwuba...

My buddy has to work 'til 6 tomorrow. So I'm weighing between leaving after my conference call tomorrow afternoon and traveling solo - then I can make bend by 9-10 pm. Or waiting on a traveling companion and driving late nite through the snow...

Tough call, but your depiction of the potential conditions and the tree skiing has me salivating.
 
The drive on 97 in Oregon is ostly straight as an arrow BUT:
Oregon speed limit is 55 and enforcement is intense. I got a ticket on the January 2012 trip and Becky got one in April.
 
Sorry I haven't gotten back sooner, but I've had some laptop and network issues and was working on report from earlier this week. I've never been ticketed in Oregon (had enough in CA - not lately, they are getting too expensive), but have relatives who were ticketed on US-97 North of Bend and Redmond where road crosses Indian reservation. They do not give the 5-7-9 mph leeway that you usually get on highway in CA and can and will ticket you for 1 or 2 mph over.

I remember some very long straight-aways on US-97 north of Klamath Falls - not flat, but straight for 10-15 miles. I also remember they used red volcanic cinders on the road that really showed on your car.
 
I was actually wondering about the speeding thing - i.e. 55 mph means your cool to 60-65 mph. But it sounds like I should keep to 55 on 97...
 
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