Oregon, Usa
Willamette Pass
555 acres, 29 runs on Eagle Peak. Oregon's steepest lift-served run, Power Pass access near Eugene.
Season 2025 - 2026
Opens
13 Dec 2025
Closes
29 Mar 2026
Days open
106
Annual snow
33ft
The Overview
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
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.
1,565ft
Vertical
29
Runs
555 acres
Skiable
33ft
Annual snow
The Terrain
29 runs across 555 acres skiable
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.
Terrain split
29
runs
29 runs across 4 grades
Beginner6 runs · 21%
Intermediate13 runs · 45%
Advanced3 runs · 10%
Expert7 runs · 24%
Time it right
When to visit Willamette Pass
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.
Season 2025 - 2026
13 Dec 2025
Opens
29 Mar 2026
Closes
106
Days open
33 ft
Annual snow
Getting there
Getting to Willamette Pass, and where to stay
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.
Where to stay
Search all stays →Hotels and lodges near Willamette Pass, powered by Stay22.
Latest News
From the SnowStash desk
Aerial Tram Collides With Crane at Alpe d'Huez: 23 Injured
An aerial tram carrying around fifty passengers struck the boom of a construction crane on the route to Pic Blanc at Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday morning, injuring 23 people, three seriously. The cabin tipped on impact before the operator reversed it to right the car. Most of the injured were treated on site, with five taken to hospital in Grenoble, including a pregnant woman assessed as a precaution.
28 Aug 2026
Why Glaciers Are Collapsing - And What Happens When They Do
A deadly flood on the Nepal-China border, a decade-old tragedy on Italy's Marmolada, and an unstable glacier right now above a village near Zermatt - three very different mountain ranges, the same underlying story. Warming ice is destabilising terrain that was considered settled for generations, and the results range from catastrophic floods to slow-motion monitoring situations that could go either way.
27 Aug 2026
Pitztal Glacier Set to Reopen for the 2026/27 Ski Season on 26 September
Tyrol's highest ski area is gearing up to open a full month ahead of most of the Alps. The Pitztal Glacier is scheduled to start its 2026/27 season on Saturday 26 September, running through to 2 May 2027, with the lower-altitude Rifflsee area following in December. High-altitude terrain up to 3,440 metres gives the glacier a head start on snow, though as always, the actual opening extent will depend on how September's weather plays out. Early online ski pass bookings can save up to 30%.
26 Aug 2026
Unstable Glacier Above Randa Puts Zermatt-Area Village on Alert
A hanging glacier above the Swiss village of Randa, just south of Zermatt, has been shedding large chunks of ice for weeks, with authorities warning more break-offs are likely. A danger zone has been closed off since June, though officials say the village's 479 residents aren't at risk. It's a familiar pattern for this glacier - it's done this before, in 1819, 1972 and 1973 - but a reminder of how closely Alpine authorities now watch terrain once considered stable.
26 Aug 2026
Thredbo Is 'On the Table' as EVT Reviews Its Whole Business
Thredbo is officially 'on the table.' EVT Limited, owner of Australia's most decorated ski resort, has hired Rothschild & Co to review its entire corporate structure - and confirmed Thredbo isn't off limits, even as it books a stronger year of earnings. The resort's own valuation has nearly halved after a brutal 2026 season, and speculation is already running toward Vail Resorts, Alterra, or a New Zealand operator picking it up. Here's what EVT actually said, and who could buy it.
25 Aug 2026
Ski-E-O! Is the Ski Resort Tycoon Game We Didn't Know We Needed
I'm not a gamer. I'm a skier and snowboarder who happens to have a laptop. So when a ski resort management game called Ski-E-O! landed on Steam, I wasn't expecting to lose an afternoon to it - but here we are. Real mountain terrain, a full weather system, storms that roll in and wreck your snow base, avalanche danger, and enough depth to make RollerCoaster Tycoon feel simple by comparison. Early access lands in November. Here's what a few hours in the free demo actually looks like.
23 Aug 2026
Sugar Bowl, California, Rebuilds Its Historic Village Gondola
The rumours are true: Sugar Bowl is tearing out its Emerald gondola, in place since 1983, and replacing it with a new 8-person Doppelmayr system - nearly doubling uphill capacity to 1,800 people an hour. It's the fourth generation of a gondola line that dates back to 1953, when Sugar Bowl became the first resort on the West Coast to run one at all, and it's just one piece of a $100 million overhaul touching lodges, parking and snowmaking. Here's what's changing, and what's staying the same.
23 Aug 2026
Two Confirmed Dead as Search Continues After Swiss Alps Fire
The death toll from Thursday night's fire at Restaurant Beverin in Thusis, Switzerland, has begun to firm up. One Swiss outlet, citing Graubünden Cantonal Police, reports that two of the five people initially reported missing have now been confirmed dead, leaving three unaccounted for. The building's collapsed stairwell and structural instability have slowed recovery efforts throughout. Here's what's changed since the fire broke out, and what's still unconfirmed.
22 Aug 2026
Current conditions
Snow Report
Awaiting live data
6,683ft
summit
+0in
new snow · last 24 hours
-°F / -°F · - -
Snowfall
24 hours
0in
48 hours
0in
7 days
0in
Base depth
-
Season total
-
13 Dec 2025 - 29 Mar 2026
Hour by Hour
Next 34 hours· Updated Aug 28, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Scroll for the full outlook · Open-Meteo
7-Day Outlook
6,683 ftUpdated Aug 28, 2026 at 7:02 PMOpen-Meteo
Days 1–7
0.0"
Days 8–14
0.0"
Sat, Aug 29
Overcast
Temp56° / 39°°F
Snow0.0"(3%)
Wind13 mph NW
Live snow from the resort feed; forecast from Open-Meteo, via Supabase.
Understanding the Willamette Pass snow report
See what's happening on the mountain at Willamette Pass right now — snowfall, snow depth, and weather data to help you plan your day in Oregon.
Snow measurements
Snow depth at Willamette Pass is tracked at both the base and summit, since the two elevations often see different totals — roughly a 477m difference here. We report fresh snowfall over the last 24 hours and 7 days alongside the running season total, in both metric and imperial units.
Weather conditions
Wind and temperature swings matter as much as fresh snowfall. Cold, calm conditions hold snow quality well, while wind-loading or a warm-up can change things quickly — especially given the elevation spread between Willamette Pass's base and summit.
Data sources
We pull Willamette Pass's conditions from on-the-ground mountain reporting, then layer in forecast data so you get a fuller picture than either source alone.
When to check
Snow reports are typically updated early morning and late afternoon. For the most current conditions, check back regularly, especially if a winter storm is approaching.