We managed to score a couple of bluebird days just after a snowfall, so it was bliss to ride powder at Bachelor with such great visibility. It was easy to see why so many people rave about Mount Bachelor. It is a great all-rounder and also a good spot for powder hounds, but the important question is “how far would I be willing to travel to go to Bachelor?”.
This might put my thoughts about Mt Bachelor into perspective:
Would I go there if I lived in Oregon (or Seattle)? – absolutely
Would I include it on a road trip of other PNW ski areas? – definitely
Would I include it on a big road trip of western US ski resorts? - possibly
Would I fly there from other parts of the US or internationally especially just to go to Bachelor? – probably not
Would I fly there from other parts of the US or internationally especially just to go to Bachelor if I had the family in tow? – no.

We visited on a very peak weekend, so we went with our eyes wide open for potential crowds. The base area was understandably crazy and there was a big yet well organised lift queue to get up from the base, however once we were up the first lift, the crowds spread out quickly. We spent a lot of time riding off the Summit and NW chairs and there weren’t that many people around, and surprisingly we could find freshies if we poked around a bit.

Lunch time was really the only time that the crowds were a problem. The hour-long line just to order a meal at the Pine Marten Lodge were a complete joke. It would have made a great case study for systems inefficiencies for a student studying Lean thinking or systems reengineering.

We loved Bend which is a town with plenty of pizazz. It was so refreshing to visit a few of the Bend restaurants and enjoy great cuisine after spending too much time in Montana and Idaho where they think bison burgers are gourmet.

See our Mt Bachelor overview for more on our thoughts on the pros and cons of the ski area, and also see our US ski resort ratings to see how it compares to other ski areas.
See our video here