The month of November has been a good one for Hoodoo Ski Area. The series of storms that swept across the Cascades earlier this month, including a bomb cyclone, dumped nearly 70 inches of snow on the ski area, allowing operations to begin for the season on Friday.

It was the earliest start date for Hoodoo in 18 years. All of the resort’s front-side lifts were spinning Friday, with the first chair transporting happy skiers uphill just before 9 a.m.

Mt. Bachelor ski area opened for its full season on Friday after limited openings for passholders Nov. 15 and for the general public Nov. 22.

Excitement level high

“The excitement level is high,” said Matt McFarland, general manager of the ski area. “Opening on a holiday weekend, there should be lots of people and based on the phone calls and the internet activity, it should be a really good solid opening weekend.”

Lack of early-season snow in recent years has prevented Hoodoo Ski Area from opening by Thanksgiving weekend — the target opening date each year. Last winter the ski area didn’t have enough snow to open until Jan. 10.

This year, there has been snow aplenty. At the Santiam Junction monitoring site, snowpack was 143% of normal as of Nov. 28, according to data compiled by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

While the snow depth is enough to open the front-side lifts at Hoodoo, the backside runs (serviced by the Hodag Chair) need a bit more snow, said McFarland. The Autobahn Tubing Park is also closed until later in the season as more snow is needed to build its large berms.

Ticket prices

A full-day adult lift ticket for Hoodoo is now $75, or $6 more than a year ago. McFarland said the increase was necessary to keep up with inflation as food and fuel prices have pushed up operating costs.

Skiers on a budget can make their way to the ski area on discount days. These include the occasional Thrifty Thursday ($35) or Onesie Wednesday ($30). The ski area also has night skiing starting Dec. 20 for $39. And kids 10 and younger ski for free. A full schedule can be found on the Hoodoo website calendar.

McFarland said the early start helps put the ski area on a solid financial footing to start the ski season and the certainty helps with hiring, too. The stress of wondering — and waiting — for the snow to arrive is also eased.

“This year, hallelujah, it’s here,” said McFarland.

Weather forecast

Thanksgiving weekend is a good one to get in a ski day — Santiam Pass and other high-elevation areas are headed for a dry and warming period next week. Katy Branham, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pendleton, said the dry weather at the passes will come with temperatures in the low- to mid-40s through this weekend, with temperatures getting into the high 40s later next week.

Bend ski shops doing brisk business as snow piles up at Mt. Bachelor