In Oregon, you can experience 12 unique ski areas that offer more than 16,000 acres of skiing, 400 runs, 71 ski lifts, 13 terrain parks, snow cat skiing and around 400 inches of snowfall annually. Ranging from community ski hills to destination resorts, Oregon has great mountains to explore.
Oregon boasts the longest ski season in North America, where ski areas open in November (sometimes even October) and continue into April or May. Timberline’s Palmer Snowfield is North America’s only year-round ski area, where the season never ends for skiing or riding! Oregon ski areas don’t close for lack of snow, but for lack of skiers! Spring conditions are better here than anywhere else on the planet, but they haven’t yet been discovered.
Our mountains enjoy an abundance of natural snowfall, often more than 25 feet annually! Our maritime climate, characterized by the deep snowfall and relatively mild air temperatures, rarely needs assistance from snowmaking machines. Storms rolling in off the Pacific drop 8 to 10 inches of new snow with great frequency, prompting “powder chasers” to road trip up and down I-5 or Hwy 97 to escape into the Cascade and Siskiyou mountains, or out I-84 to rugged eastern Oregon, where Ski Anthony Lakes has the highest base elevation (7,100′) and some of the driest snow anywhere.
In addition to having big alpine descents, including 3 mountains with vertical drops greater than 2,700′, most areas also have groomed Nordic trails for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. Mt. Bachelor pushes the limits with its Nordic freestyle terrain park - a quarter mile of specially crafted table-top jumps, spines, rollers, and whoop-dee-dos. Several areas have lift served winter-tubing, snowskates, snow bikes or ski boards. Thousands of acres of backcountry access can be found snowcat skiing at Mt. Bailey and Ski Anthony Lakes.
Planning an overnight visit? With enough folklore to make it an Oregon icon, Timberline Lodge is Oregon’s quintessential ski lodge. Communities near all of Oregon’s ski areas offer unique and convenient lodging, dining and shopping opportunities just downhill from the slopes. Regardless of where you stay, Oregon will shower you with genuine hospitality.
We feel skiing and snowboarding is something that strikes the adventure and passion in a person’s life, and we invite you to share that experience. Oregon is a special place!
