By ROB DEHARPPORT/ For The Herald — Willamette Pass Resort Ski Area is planning for a limited opening this Saturday and Sunday Dec 18th and 19th! Conditions at the area consist of deep snow with no base layer. Compacting and grooming is very limited. Only strong skiers and snowboarders should plan a visit at this time, given the snow surface that will be encountered throughout the area.
At this time only two lifts are scheduled to operate.
For this first weekend of operations there will be no rentals or lessons available.
More information will be available as soon as possible. Please call 541-345-7669 or visit https://willamettepass.com.
Mount Bachelor is also open, as is the Diamond Lake Resort’s snow tubing area. This is a 470′ long tubing area with multiple lanes and a Wonder Carpet lift. Tickets are limited and can be purchased online at [email protected] or call 541-793-3318 for information.
The gates have been closed at the old Crescent Lake snow park. USFS road #60 near Crescent Lake Resort is also closed, as is the Cascade Scenic Highway off of the Crescent cut-off road. Both roads are open to snowmobiling, cross-country skiers and snowshoeing.
Currently near Crescent Lake the SNOTEL snow gauge reports 28″ of Snow at 4800′ elevation. Summit Lake SNOTEL reports 44″ at 5610′ elevation. Snow depth can and will vary at different sites with the same elevations as the SNOTEL reports.
Highway 58 road conditions can also vary from different elevations and within minutes, depending on incoming weather systems. As of today, we are experiencing a break in the weather between storms. More snow is predicted over the weekend and through Christmas. Carry chains or have good all-weather traction tires when traveling into any of our Cascade Mountain passes. Be sure to check ODOT Tripcheck.com for current conditions. Highway 58 here in the Crescent Lake Junction area currently has all types of road conditions. Including some bare pavement in spots, packed snow in other spots. Early this morning temperatures dropped to 3.7° (yes, that’s three point seven degrees!) here at my house, so black ice can be encountered anywhere where the snow has melted on the roadway and froze.
Walker Rim Riders Snowmobile Club has not groomed any snowmobile trails yet. However, grooming of the trails will start very soon as they wait for the snow base to “firm up.” Trail conditions will soon be posted on the Walker Rim Riders Facebook page.
It’s looking like a decent weekend to get outside and explore.
No matter where you go, be safe and let someone know where you are planning to go and when to expect you back home. A family recently spent an unplanned night in the Box Canyon area. They had told friends and family that they were heading to either the Santiam Pass area or Willamette Pass area to play in the snow. Luckily, they were found after only one night in freezing temperatures despite being in a completely different area than they had told friends and family. Searchers of course, focused on the two areas they said they were traveling to.
Luck was on their side as someone reported seeing a pickup similar to the one reported missing in the Box Canyon area. Hopefully, this case and other cases that have ended tragically in recent years serve as a reminder to follow through as planned or communicate changes in plans. Be safe, have fun and enjoy our much-needed snow in the Cascades.
George Custer lives in Oakridge with his wife Sayre. George is a former smokejumper from his hometown of Cave Junction, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. and ran a construction company in Southern California. George assumed the volunteer duties as the Editor of the Highway 58 Herald in 2022. He loves riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, building all things wood, and playing drums on the weekends in his office.
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