Skiers and snowboarders shredding their way through the powder at
“All the changes are guest driven,” said
Mt. Bachelor is in year five of a five year plan devoted to revamping their operations, “The last five summers have seen a lot of reinvestment in the infrastructure in the lifts and the groomers; [we completed]a lot of maintenance that needed to be caught up on including refurbishing all of our lifts.” Several of the behind-the-scenes changes this year included updating the lift infrastructure on the drive for Outback Express and purchasing a new groomer.
“We spent a lot of work building our foundation and refurbishing the lifts and grooming equipment; it will cycle out on a more routine basis with regular lift maintenance in the off season.”
Patrons to
“It will be a huge thing for our employee base. Right now our offices are scattered all over; it will provide a lot of efficiencies for staff resources.” The first year of a two year project, the building will be finished next year with offices and the renovation of the old guest services building converted to accommodate employee lockers.
“The first day of the season we filled more passes than we ever have,” said Goggins. “We got over the hurdle of how many people we can have in the building. Opening day this season was during one of the best powder days, so we had an influx of pass holders coming to get their passes done. It flowed pretty well and we got [the employees]up to speed, once we handled that we can now handle the holiday [traffic]better.
“All this foundation will lead up to the master development plan currently awaiting the U.S. Forest Service record of decision,” he continued.
The first full master plan update since the original plan approved by the Forest Service in 1981 is a culmination of
“It has been a long time in the making and we feel good about the involvement with the community,” Goggins said. “If all things go as planned the decision is due to come out mid-winter.”
Through a variety of charity programs introduced since 2005,
“The OSU four year campus would be an amazing thing for the community,” Goggins said. “It’s something we got behind in the get go.” Over the course of the next five years Mt. Bachelor will sell a limited number of $49 tickets totaling $250,000 towards the expansion.
“Between these three different programs it’s good to be able to offer a discounted ticket to the mountain.”
Another focus for their local customer base is creating new skiers and snowboarders. The popularity of their Ski or Ride in 5 program is now in the fourth season. “The retention rate we have seen is unbelievable,” Goggins commented. “We have seen amazing success based on the ease of entry and the cost is an unbelievable value. We offer that upfront with the hopes they will be lifelong skiers and boarders.”
Weathering The Challenges
One of the biggest challenges Goggins identified in the successful operation of
“We are forced to adapt to the weather, it’s challenging,” he commented. “There is nothing to deflect the storms and the wind. It’s tough to educate what is happing up there when we have rapidly changing weather…we update the Facebook page regularly and make it a point to be brutally honest!”
The west side of the mountain and
The flip side to operating from the 360 degree summit of
Despite deciding to close the mountain mid-week during the spring season in 2012 due to bad weather during the holidays and the resulting low attendance to the mountain, the resort does not foresee the same for this year. ‘We are planning on remaining open daily until the end of May moving forward. We have had great success promoting what Bend has to offer that time of year, you can ski in the morning and mountain bike, climb and kayak in the afternoon; the multi sport opportunities are amazing,” he said.
www.mtbachelor.com, info@mtbachelor.com, 800-829-2442.