
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 sits on Eagle Peak in the Oregon Cascades, covering 555 acres (225 hectares) with 29 runs. The base is at 5,120 feet and the summit at 6,680 feet (2,037 m), a vertical of about 1,570 feet (477 m). The grading is unusual: 45% intermediate and 24% expert, with 21% beginner and only 10% advanced. Snowfall averages roughly 400 inches a year, which is a heavy total for such a small area. The very small advanced share means the mountain divides into two kinds of skier, those who cruise and those who want the steepest runs.
The Eagle Peak Accelerator chairlift runs from the base up to the summit of Eagle Peak, and the Twilight chair serves other parts of the mountain. RTS is the signature run, pitched at up to 52 degrees at its steepest and the steepest lift-served run in Oregon. The expert share suits strong skiers who want steep lines, while intermediates make up the bulk of the rest of the trail count. Willamette Pass suits skiers from Eugene and the southern Willamette Valley who value a small, steep local mountain over a big resort.
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.
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Mammoth Mountain is first up in California, targeting Friday 13 November after a dusting of September snow. Heavenly and Northstar follow on 20 November, Palisades Tahoe on Wednesday 25 November and Sugar Bowl on 27 November, with Kirkwood on 4 December and June Mountain on 19 December. Plenty of smaller areas have no date yet. A super El Niño favours the Sierra, but a warmer storm track is the catch.

Arapahoe Basin, Keystone and Winter Park are all chasing an October start, though none has a firm date yet. The first dated openers are Breckenridge and Copper on Friday 6 November, then Vail on 13 November, with most of the rest bunched around US Thanksgiving. Hesperus did not open at all last season. A super El Niño offers hope but no guarantee, and forecasters say the southern mountains have the better odds.

Dolomiti Superski is spending around €100 million across its 12 areas before winter. Kronplatz gets a new 10-passenger gondola with a middle station, 3 Zinnen gets Helmissimo, and Val di Fassa swaps a chairlift for a gondola above Col Valvacin. New water-storage basins and upgraded snowmaking follow, and construction has started on the San Martino to Passo Rolle link. A peak adult day pass is €89.

Brian Head is targeting 6 November, though last year it aimed for 7 November and did not open until the 25th. Park City, Alta and Solitude are pencilled in for 20 November, Snowbird and Snowbasin for 27 November, and Deer Valley for 5 December. Eagle Point will stay closed after the Cottonwood Fire. A super El Niño is forecast, but the big snow is not expected until January.

Hintertux became Austria's second glacier to open for 2026-27 on Friday 2 October, after the Pitztal Glacier. Twelve kilometres of piste are running around the Olperer and Gefrorene Wand, served by one gondola and two drag lifts, with the Betterpark also open. Lifts officially run 8:15 am to 4:30 pm, but skiing stops at 2 pm for now.

A historically poor western winter cut Vail Resorts' annual net income from $280 million to $147.5 million and skier visits by 13.4 per cent. Now 2026-27 pass units are down 12 per cent as of 18 September, worse than the 10 per cent flagged in spring. Vail blames the weather and thinks some buyers are simply waiting, and it forecasts a rebound if the snow behaves.

Arizona Snowbowl advertised eight $1 lift ticket days this winter. Go looking and only three are showing - 10 March, 1 April and 10 April - so the rest may already have gone. The consolation is a calendar full of $9 days, including all but one day in April. Opening day is 20 November, weather permitting, and opening weekend is $19.

For years, Whitewater's Short Side was where you ducked a rope and hoped for the best: unmapped, ungroomed and unpatrolled. This winter it's inbounds. Six new runs of glades and fall-line skiing add 190 acres (about 77 hectares), taking the resort past 1,400 acres in total. F2 Logging spent a month in the trees to make it happen, and opening day is pencilled in for 4 December. Bonanza now needs less snow to groom, too.
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