This Oregon Hill Just Tripled Snowmaking and Locked a Dec. 11 Open
Willamette Pass more than triples snow guns to 19, adds first top-to-bottom coverage, and targets a Dec. 11 opening.
Willamette Pass Resort announced on Sept. 24 that it has finished a major snowmaking expansion, one of the largest infrastructure bets in the mountain's modern history. The upgrade more than triples prior snowmaking capacity, doubles the gun fleet to 19 units, and delivers top-to-bottom coverage for the first time. Opening day is tentatively set for Dec. 11, 2026.
The Bend Bulletin reported that coverage now reaches trails including Kaleidoscope, Eagle's Flight, Perseverance, By George, Rough Cut, and Sleepy Hollow. General manager Mindy Ingebretson-Wolowicz framed the project as reliability for Eugene-area and Central Oregon guests who already treat the Highway 58 hill as a steep, local alternative to bigger Cascades destinations.
Why the Cascades investment matters
Willamette Pass sits about 75 minutes southwest of Bend and roughly an hour from Eugene in good driving weather. The resort lists 555 lift-served acres, 1,563 vertical feet, six lifts, 29 trails, and an average of about 430 inches of natural snow. That snowfall reputation is real, yet Cascade winters still swing hard on timing. Top-to-bottom man-made coverage is how a mid-size hill protects early December and late-season weekends when the natural base arrives late or melts early.
Owner Tim Wiper's family has run the mountain since 1982 and previously built Oregon's first snowmaking system here. The resort entered a joint venture with Mountain Capital Partners in 2022. This snowmaking phase is also described as an early step in Willamette Pass's Master Development Plan, so expect more capital chapters if the 2026-27 season validates the spend.
How Oregon trip planners should use it
Destination skiers comparing Cascades options should not confuse Willamette Pass with an Ikon or Epic flagship. It is a regional mountain with serious pitch for its size and a guest base that still drives rather than flies. The new system mainly helps those drivers: earlier openings, more consistent midwinter coverage, and fewer washout weekends when temperatures flirt with rain lines.
If your Oregon winter already includes Mt. Bachelor (targeted to open Dec. 4 this year), Willamette Pass becomes a useful second-day or storm-dodge option when Bachelor parking or Cascade Lakes Highway logistics get messy. Cross-country skiers also keep 20 kilometers of Nordic terrain in the mix, which is rare at hills of this scale.
For primary-source detail on the gun count and Dec. 11 target, see the resort at willamettepass.ski. Then check Ski Flock's Willamette Pass page before you book a first-weekend trip around the new snowmaking debut.