Mt. Bachelor Begins Major Modernisation Project on Northwest Express Chairlift

Mt. Bachelor is overhauling one of its most-used chairlifts before the 2026-27 season opens.

The Oregon resort has officially launched a modernisation project on the Northwest Express, a high-capacity quad that serves steep terrain and tree skiing on the mountain's west side. Work began this spring and is scheduled to finish before opening day next winter.

What's being upgraded

The project keeps the lift's existing foundations, towers, terminals, haul rope, and chairs in place. What's changing is the mechanical and operational core: a new electric motor, a replacement auxiliary power unit, and a complete overhaul of the interior control equipment. Once complete, the Northwest lift's operating system will match the technology already running on Mt. Bachelor's Skyliner lift.

Alongside the lift upgrades, the resort has outlined a significant infrastructure programme to run through summer and fall:

• Around 5,000 feet of buried communication and fibre lines to improve connectivity and protect critical systems from ice buildup during storms
• New upper and lower operator shacks built to house updated lift control systems and improve working conditions for operations staff
• An expanded chair storage facility - converted to a semi-enclosed steel structure capable of storing all lift chairs - to cut storm recovery and snow removal time
• A night-drive system that allows the lift to run without chairs attached during closures, preventing ice from forming on the haul rope through storm cycles
• A new maintenance garage near the base terminal for on-site carrier testing and repairs
• New paint and updated signage across the lift area

Why this lift matters

The Northwest Express is the primary access point for Mt. Bachelor's advanced terrain on the northwest side of the volcano - steep pitches, tree lines, and the West Bowls that tend to hold powder long after a storm. It also carries some serious credentials: the lift has the seventh-largest vertical drop of any chairlift in North America, at 2,336 feet.

Mt. Bachelor's Director of Mountain Operations, Dustin Smith, confirmed the timeline in a press release: "We're wrapping up routine maintenance this spring and will work throughout summer and fall to get everything wrapped up prior to the 2026/27 season."

Initial work is already done. "We updated utility power to the bottom of Northwest, providing increased voltage and power supply to that area of the mountain," Smith said. "We're also replacing the bull wheel bearings, removing the park rail, and performing terminal alignments this month."

The broader context

Mt. Bachelor sits within Oregon's Cascade Range and operates as one of the larger independent ski areas in the Pacific Northwest. Lift infrastructure projects of this scale - focused on reliability and storm resilience rather than capacity expansion - reflect the operational reality of running a high-alpine resort that regularly takes serious weather through winter. Keeping a critical lift running consistently during storm cycles matters more to the guest experience than adding new terrain.

The Northwest Express modernisation project is expected to be complete before the 2026-27 season opens.