
555 acres, 29 runs on Eagle Peak. Oregon's steepest lift-served run, Power Pass access near Eugene.
Willamette Pass's terrain rises from a base at 5,118 feet to a summit at 6,683 feet atop Eagle Peak, a vertical drop of 1,565 feet across 29 runs spread over 555 acres in the Oregon Cascades. Terrain splits 45 per cent intermediate, 24 per cent expert, 21 per cent beginner and 10 per cent advanced, with average annual snowfall of roughly 400 inches. The resort offers Power Pass access.
Willamette Pass includes Oregon's steepest lift-served run, a distinction that has helped the resort retain a loyal following of experienced skiers despite its modest overall scale. The mountain's substantial snowfall total, around 400 inches annually, supports reliable conditions through a season shorter than some larger Oregon resorts. Its history of local, family-style ownership for much of its existence has shaped a distinctly community-oriented character.
Roy and Edna Temple founded the ski area in 1941, logging a section of 6,683-foot Eagle Peak and installing a rope tow to get started. Ownership proved unstable through much of the 1960s: a group of ten Cottage Grove teachers purchased the area from George Korn for 55,000 US dollars in 1962, but the resort passed through at least eight ownership changes over the following years, closing for two or three seasons and at one point replacing its volunteer ski patrol with management employees.
After a further transition through the Eugene-Lane Teachers Credit Union and a brief 1979-80 closure during a foreclosure action involving neighbouring Hoodoo, brothers Charles Wiper Jr. and Tom Wiper Sr. bought a 60 per cent share of the resort in 1981 and invested 750,000 US dollars in the area's first chairlift and other improvements. The Wiper family of Eugene owned and operated Willamette Pass from 1982 until 2022, when the resort entered a new joint venture with Mountain Capital Partners. Adult daily tickets run from 69 to 79 US dollars, with the Power Pass from 249 dollars.
Willamette Pass spreads 29 runs across 555 acres skiable of terrain. It leans intermediate at 45%, with 6 beginner runs to find your feet and 10 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
The 2025-26 season at Willamette Pass ran from 13 December 2025 to 29 March 2026, a roughly fifteen-week season supported by average annual snowfall of around 400 inches. This substantial snowfall total supports reliable conditions across the resort's terrain despite its comparatively short operating window relative to some larger Oregon resorts. Season dates can shift depending on early and late-season storm activity.
Midwinter, from January through February, typically brings the most consistent conditions to the resort's varied terrain, including Oregon's steepest lift-served run. Given the resort's history as a locally owned, community-focused mountain for much of the past eighty years, Willamette Pass draws primarily from the Eugene and southern Willamette Valley region rather than national destination traffic. Weekend crowds are generally heavier than weekdays.
As a Power Pass resort under the 2022 joint venture with Mountain Capital Partners, Willamette Pass now draws some visiting skiers holding that multi-resort pass in addition to its core regional base. The Power Kids Pass, offered at no cost, reflects a continued emphasis on family accessibility consistent with the resort's community-oriented history. School holiday periods bring increased family visitation.
Specific event programming beyond standard operations is not confirmed in available resort information. The Wiper family's four decades of ownership from 1982 to 2022 shaped much of the resort's community character, a legacy that continues under the current Mountain Capital Partners joint venture. Willamette Pass's reputation for Oregon's steepest lift-served terrain remains its clearest point of distinction each season.
Willamette Pass sits on Eagle Peak in the Oregon Cascades, with a base elevation of 5,118 feet and a summit at 6,683 feet across a 1,565-foot vertical drop over 555 acres. This puts the resort along the Cascade crest in the southern Willamette Valley region of Oregon.
The town of Oakridge lies within a reasonable drive of the resort, offering local lodging and services, while Eugene, home to the Wiper family who owned the resort for four decades, provides more extensive amenities a further distance to the west. The broader Willamette National Forest surrounds the resort, offering additional summer and shoulder-season recreation beyond skiing.
Oregon State Route 58 provides the main route to Willamette Pass from Eugene and the southern Willamette Valley, climbing steadily into the Cascade Range. Winter driving conditions on this route can include snow and ice, and travellers should carry chains during winter weather advisories given the elevation involved. There is no direct public transport service to the resort.
Eugene Airport is the nearest airport with commercial service, offering a practical option for visitors flying into the southern Willamette Valley before making the drive up to the pass. Most Willamette Pass visitors, however, are Eugene-area locals or regional Oregon skiers driving up rather than fly-in destination travellers, consistent with the resort's long history as a community-owned mountain.
Hotels and lodges near Willamette Pass, powered by Stay22.

Sundance Mountain Resort's back mountain is finally getting a proper lift. The Electric Horseman Express opens for 2026-27, unlocking a new bowl next to Bishop's Bowl and three expert gladed chutes across roughly 105 fresh acres - on top of the Storyteller ridge run that debuted in preview form last season. It's Sundance's biggest expansion since 1985, and it turns a three-lift slog into a single six-minute ride to Bearclaw Summit.

Nassfeld is putting €13 million into a new 6-seater chairlift, the Tressdorfer Almbahn, connecting Sonnleitn with the Tressdorfer Alm from December 2026. It replaces three ageing drag lifts and will run through summer too, from June 2027, moving up to 2,500 people an hour on the roughly three-minute ride. It's the latest step in Carinthia's largest ski resort building out a genuine year-round offering, following last year's Gartnerkofelbahn gondola.

Italy's Stelvio Glacier has pulled the plug on summer skiing from August 15. It was the last lift-served ski option left standing in continental Europe, and now there's none. Operator SIFAS pointed to persistent heat, storms, and a snowpack that simply wasn't refreezing overnight anymore. The cable car keeps running. Whether skiing comes back later this summer depends on the weather turning - and right now, nobody's promising anything.

Firefighters saved every base building at Maverick Mountain, Montana, but the resort's sole chairlift didn't survive the Sand Creek Fire. Owners Erik and Kristi Borge say the lift is "most likely" out for the 2026/27 season after flames tore through the mountain on August 8. The wildfire has since grown past 27,700 acres with zero percent containment. It's a gutting result for the tiny, one-lift operation near Dillon - though the lodge, groomers and equipment all made it through untouched.

Fairmont is bringing its second Japanese property to Niseko, and this one's got history. The 165-room resort will rise on the site of the stalled La Plume project, which collapsed into bankruptcy in 2025 before J-Will Partners bought the site for redevelopment. Set between Mount Yotei and Mount Annupuri, it's slated for an early 2028 opening - putting it in play for the 2027/28 season. Expect two restaurants, a spa, onsen bathing, and a kids' club, a short drive from Niseko Village and Hirafu.

Saas-Fee is closing its glacier to summer skiing from Monday, August 10 - the second major Swiss resort to shut in under two weeks after Zermatt suspended operations on August 1. Persistent heat and warm nights that won't let the glacier refreeze are behind the call, per Saastal Bergbahnen. That leaves Italy's Stelvio as the only glacier ski area open in the Alps. Reopening could come as early as August 17, though nothing's confirmed - and racing teams are already looking south instead.

Silvretta Montafon wants to retire one of its most distinctive lifts. The plan: a single 10-person gondola running direct from Schruns to 1,870 metres, replacing both the two-stage Hochjoch cable car and the 1985 Kropfen chairlift in one move. Capacity jumps from 620 to 3,000 people an hour, and the mid-station transfer disappears entirely. The public hearing lands August 27, 2026 - construction hasn't been confirmed yet, though lift databases are pointing to 2027.

Dolomiti Superski's general assembly has unanimously re-elected Andy Varallo for a third consecutive term, running through 2029. Alongside the leadership renewal comes a bigger shift: a Smartpass that puts your ski pass on your smartphone, more AI in guest services, and an expanded Dolomiti Supersummer program. The 46-year-old Alta Badia cable car entrepreneur says the region's marketing is moving beyond skiing alone, toward positioning the Dolomites as a year-round destination.
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