Mt. Bachelor Gets Early Season Snow and "Hero Dirt" for Labor Day Weekend
Some say that Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer, and although Mother Nature doesn’t always subscribe to arbitrary calendar dates, parts of the Pacific Northwest were looking a lot closer to winter over the weekend.
A cold front that came across Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana last week moved its way into Oregon and Washington over the long weekend and left Central Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor looking more like the start of ski season than the end of bike park season.
Between Thursday, September 3, and Monday, September 7, 2026, Mt. Bachelor picked up roughly 4″ of snow at its higher elevations. The incoming storm forced the mountain to temporarily close its mountain bike park on Wednesday afternoon, as rain, wind, and the first snowflakes of the season descended on the volcano.
Courtesy Mt. Bachelor
The storm continued through the weekend, causing weather delays for the bike park and scenic chairlift rides, but making for incredible riding conditions in between.
As Mt. Bachelor entered the final day of their summer operating hours on Labor Day, lift ops and bike patrol were hard at work digging out Pine Marten and the top of Redline trail from a pretty solid coating of snow that fell overnight.
Between the significant precipitation that had fallen in the days prior and Monday’s clear, warm weather, summer hours ended on a high note.
As of Tuesday, September 8, Mt. Bachelor has transitioned to their fall hours. The bike park is open Thursday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., until October 4. Conditions permitting, Mt. Bachelor hopes to open for the winter season on November 27, 2026.
Last winter, Oregon experienced one of its worst winters on record, and the ski area didn’t open until just before Christmas. While warm temperatures in the forecast mean the snow that fell over the weekend might not stick around, it was enough to offer a bit of optimism heading into the upcoming winter season.
Mt. Bachelor’s Northwest Express lift has also undergone substantial mechanical upgrades over the summer that aim to help with rime ice buildup, lift stoppages, and operational efficiency on one of the mountain’s key lifts.
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