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Central Oregon Skiing
You can’t talk about Bend, Oregon without talking about skiing. The two have been blended in Central Oregon Culture since Mt. Bachelor Ski Area came into existence in 1958.
Mount Bachelor stands solitary just south of the Three Sisters Mountains. Bachelor is no more than a volcanic cinder cone…..but a very large cinder cone. It stands 9,065 feet and receives over 350 inches of snow fall each year. It is the cinder cone shape of Mt. Bachelor that gives this mountain its amazing consistency from top to bottom. The Central Oregon Cascades are where the wet Pacific storms meet with cold, dry high dessert air creating some of the best powder dumps in the western United States.
Mt. Bachelor is only 20 minutes west of Bend and 15 minutes northwest of Sunriver. The drive can be slippery in the winter, but is one of the easier ski resort roads you will find in the northwest.
Hoodoo Ski Area is another local ski area. This small but great ski hill focuses on family fun and offers a sledding hill as well as a variety of ski terrain. It is located about 50 minutes northwest of Bend on Highway 20.
If backcountry skiing is your thing, then the Diamond Lake Lodge and Mount Bailey Snow Cat Skiing Service is for you. It is located a mere 75-90 minutes south of Bend and is where locals go when they really want some light, fluffy, untouched snow. If this exceeds the budget, there are also hundreds of backcountry routes that can be accessed all over the Central Oregon Cascades by good old fashioned leg power.
When it comes to skiing there is no arguing that Central Oregonians are spoiled rotten.