Willamette Pass Resort's long-term plans: double ski terrain, add mountaintop restaurants

Willamette Pass Resort has big plans for the future, but first they want to hear from skiers and snowboarders at a meeting Thursday in Eugene and through online feedback.

The ski area east of Eugene is considering doubling its skiable terrain, adding six new lifts, expanding snowmaking and even adding mountaintop restaurants.

Those are just a few of the ideas laid out as Willamette Pass crafts its master development plan, which is required under its permit with Willamette and Deschutes national forests.

If the plan is approved, it would guide development for the next 40 years at the ski area.

“It’s exciting to talk about all these ideas, and to get people talking about it,” said Mindy Ingebretson-Wolowicz, general manager of the ski area. “But it’s also important to know that these ideas are only in the planning phase. Right now we’re framing a vision of what we’d like to see happen in the future. Right now, a big part of that is getting public input.”

Willamette Pass upgrade plans by Zach Urness on Scribd

The master plan offers a window into what co-owners of the resort, Mountain Capital Partners, have in mind for the future. The multinational corporation purchased Willamette Pass in 2022 and co-owns it with longtime owner, Tim Wiper.

The company has already poured money into improvements and put in a new dynamic pricing system. The master plan hints at far larger expansions on the horizon.

“Through the proposed upgrade plan, Willamette Pass is seeking to balance the resort with better connectivity and access, expanded terrain, and enhanced guest service facilities while maintaining the resort’s ‘local and authentic’ character,” the company said in a statement.

Any new project — from a mountaintop restaurant to a new lift — would still need to go through a separate and rigorous environmental analysis, Ingebretson-Wolowicz noted.

Eugene meeting and public comments

Part of getting the permit approved is getting public comments. Willamette Pass is holding meetings to present the vision and get feedback at:

• Wednesday: 6 to 8 p.m. at Green Waters Community Building, Oakridge

• Thursday: 6 to 8 p.m. at the Graduate Hotel, Eugene

People can also email public comment to MDP@Willamettepass.ski.

Here are things the resort is proposing to do.

1: Double amount of skiable terrain

Plans to expand Willamette Pass to include West Peak are no secret — the idea is even showcased on the resort’s current maps. But in the development plan, Willamette proposes to add six lifts, a new conveyor and cut numerous runs that would double skiable terrain to over 1,000 acres, up from the current 555 acres.

2: New beginner pod

Part of that new terrain would include a focused “beginner pod,”  Ingebretson-Wolowicz said. It would be accessed by two lifts and a “magic carpet” conveyor serving all green runs, along with a new learning center building.

3: Mountaintop restaurants, improvements to lodge

The plan proposes two mountaintop restaurants, including one near 6,666 feet atop Eagle Peak and another near the top of West Peak.

“Those were the sites identified with the most iconic views, but the actual place, this is just conceptual,” Ingebretson-Wolowicz said.

Part of the plan also includes updates and reworking the resort’s lodge “to make sure we utilize it the best we can,” she added.

4: New parking lots

An increase in terrain would likely mean a need to increase capacity in the form of parking, and the master plan identifies two new spots for parking lots.

“It would about double the amount of parking that we have now,” Ingebretson-Wolowicz said.

5: Increased snow making

Willamette Pass wasn’t able to open this past season until January due to a lack of snow. To remedy increasingly warm seasons, Ingebretson-Wolowicz said snow making will be a big part of the future.

The resort did some snow making this past season, allowing for a brief opening in December and helping fortify the snowpack. But under the plan, it would be greatly expanded to have the ability to cover runs up to Eagle Peak.

6: Highway crossing

The master plan calls for some type of way to cross Highway 58 more safely, whether it’s a bridge, tunnel, gondola or even a covered bridge.

7: Employee housing

Employee housing would be added on the opposite side of Highway 58, under the plan.

Would the improvements lead to price spikes?

One of the biggest concerns in skiing is the price of lift tickets, which have ballooned nationwide and fed the impression skiing is only open to the wealthy.

Willamette Pass is popular, especially among families in the Willamette Valley, because it’s far cheaper than larger ski areas on Mount Hood and Mount Bachelor.

Ingebretson-Wolowicz said the company’s core value is “freedom to ski” and that keeping prices affordable and family friendly is "very important to us." She said the company’s largest resorts still have affordable options.

She noted the dynamic pricing allows lift tickets to start at $19 and that there wasn’t anywhere else in Oregon with free lift tickets for kids 12 and under, along with free lessons for first time skiers.

“That is core to our business and isn’t going away,” she said, while acknowledging prices could tick up with inflation.

What happens next?

Willamette Pass hopes to get its plan, along with public comments, into the U.S. Forest Service by this summer. Then, the federal agency could approve the permit, or not.

As for when any of the improvements mentioned in the plan could happen first, Ingebretson-Wolowicz said a lot of work would come first.

“For any of these improvements, there would be a long process, more public engagement,” she said. “For now, all of this is just a concept.”

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Willamette Pass Resort details long-term plans for Oregon ski resort