A Challenging Week at Mt. Ashland: Navigating Unexpected Obstacles
Operating a ski area always comes with its fair share of challenges, but this past week has tested our team in unexpected ways. I want to share the details of the events that led to the temporary closure of Mt. Ashland Ski Area and what we did to address the situation.
The Water Supply Station Incident and Immediate Response
Early in the morning, at 5:00 AM on Sunday, February 2nd, one of our snowcat operators was clearing the access road to the pumphouse—a routine but critical task, especially given the icy conditions we’ve been experiencing. Unfortunately, due to the persistent hard layer of snow beneath the recent powder, the 22,000Ibs snowcat lost traction and slid into the pumphouse. The impact caused catastrophic damage, especially to the pumps and water lines supplying our storage tank. Both our primary and auxiliary pumps were affected, leaving the water station inoperable. Thankfully, the operator was unharmed, and we believe this to have been a genuine accident at no fault of the operator. Several mountain crew members devoted most of Sunday to extracting the equipment involved in the accident and assessing the damage.
Upon receiving the update, our team sprang into action. With over 2,000 guests expected on a powder day and no way to replenish our water supplies, we had to develop a plan quickly. Legally, we must have available toilets to operate, so we assessed whether the water reserves in our tank would be sufficient to carry us through the day. We implemented conservation measures, restricting water use in the kitchen, limiting guest access to lodge bathrooms, and directing guests to portable toilets. Our portable toilets were filled by 11:00 AM and it became a waiting game to see if we would have enough water to service our kitchen and flushing toilets. Fortunately, we made it through the day, but we knew that the lack of sufficient water reserves would force us to make the difficult decision to close for the following day, Monday, February 3rd.
While we were addressing the immediate need for our mountain to stay open on Sunday, we were also working on both short and long-term solutions to address the lack of functioning toilets in the days to come, uncertain of the extent of the catastrophic damage to our Water Supply System and the timeline to address it. We pursued multiple options simultaneously to ensure the least impact on guests.
The Mt. Ashland team explored all options and concluded that Porta Potties were the fastest alternative to functioning toilets. The team initiated contact with porta potty companies beginning early Sunday morning and finally secured a company on Monday willing to deliver the necessary units and provide regular cleaning. On Tuesday, the porta potty company could not complete delivery due to road closures on I-5. Still, finally, on Wednesday, 8 units were delivered, giving us the functioning toilets we needed to operate the moment we had power.
Simultaneously, on Monday, Mt. Ashland hired a professional plumbing service to expedite extensive repairs to our pump station. The contracted professionals worked Monday through Wednesday, including through the night. We believed repairs were completed, but we were unable to test anything until power was restored.
Ongoing Challenges: Power Outage, Snow Accumulation & Uphill Access Violations
As if the water supply issue wasn’t enough, we lost power at 1:30 PM on Monday, February 3rd, after experiencing 5 power flickers that morning. And so launched the prolonged Pacific Power outage that lasted until 3:00 AM on Thursday, February 6th. It was restored for 3.5 hours on Thursday morning before going down again at 6:30 AM. The outage, combined with over four feet of new snow accumulation, created additional obstacles to reopening. Our communication ability was significantly hampered, and our equipment and safety systems, which use battery backups in emergencies (charged by mainline electricity), were drained due to the extended power failure. These systems are designed for closing and evacuation of the mountain in the event of a emergency- not to sustain through multi-day outages. Although all of our lifts have their own dedicated generator or battery backup, we can not operate and load guests on those systems. Additional generators do exist to back up our night lights, sewage plant, shop, and other facilities- but again, these are only for duplicity in emergencies.
While our power outage was a significant hurdle, the work of our Mountain Operations team did not stop. On Monday and Tuesday, our crews were utilizing our snowcats to transport critical personnel around the mountain, were working overtime, winching to maintain our trails, and building and maintaining snowed-over roads crucial to mountain operations. The Groomers also took the opportunity to work during the day due to the better visibility amid heavy snowfall. Our terrain parks needed to be exacavated, and the snow needed to be cleared out under all five of our chairlifts for clearance, plus away from the First Act Carpet. This is not all in a day’s work and the short summary above doesn’t scratch the surface for the number of hours our team put in and tasks it takes for storm recovery. Ultimately, the team needed as much time as possible to ensure our Mountain wouldn’t get buried in a historic storm cycle so that we could welcome our guests when power was restored.
On Tuesday, February 4th, our grooming operations planned for 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM were disrupted by uphill skiers ignoring closure hours and multiple near misses. For the protection of our own staff and the safety of those uphilling, we were forced to suspend grooming on key areas of the mountain mentioned above, in addition to the banked slalom course for the high school snowboard teams and staging areas for the high school alpine championships, delaying preparations for those athletes. The 6-hour loss in work extended the amount of hours we needed to work on Wednesday and concerns arose about opening on time if it were to be restored on Thursday, February 6th. Despite misinformation online, the impact on our operational preparedness and danger to those who ignored the closures was not exaggerated by our marketing team.
On Wednesday, February 5th, our team put in the extra work, and we were able to complete all of the scheduled work for that day, and with Pacific Power giving us a 10:00 AM time estimate for Thursday morning power restoration, staff were hopeful that we would open. We sent Ski Patrol out and had Mountain Operations crew on the Mountain running all of the chairlifts on Auxiliary power temporarily to test their status after the heaviest part of the storm. This depleted the last of the batteries on those Auxiliary motors, and the last of the batteries on the Low Voltage System that manages the safety loops for derails and stops; we were told the ski area would be energized that morning and wanted to be ready to go as soon as the power came back.
Thursday, February 6th at 10:00 AM came and went with no power or word on when it would be restored. We were able to connect with Pacific Power’s Regional Manager on Thursday afternoon who gave us an estimate of power restoration for 2:00 AM on Friday morning – so we remained hopeful we could open on Friday, February 7th by coming in early once power was back. Power was restored on Friday morning at 3:00 AM and the team began making all of the preparations for a Friday morning opening. This is the reason many of you received a text on Friday morning implying we would open- we were excited and we were ready. At 6:30 AM the Mountain lost power again. And this time, there was no estimate for when we would get power back. We held out on committing to a closure Friday as long as we could, waiting to get an update from Pacific Power. However, it became apparent when we still hadn’t heard positive reports by the early afternoon that opening would not be possible.
On early Saturday morning, February 8th, Pacific Power did not have an estimate for power returning, but let us know that they were still assessing the situation and delivered the news that they were up against several broken poles, cross arms and lines- we were informed that a repair was many hours away still. With that information, our team decided at 3:30 AM not to open today. By that time, the window for getting auxiliary systems charged, mountain crews activated, and opening tasks completed had expired for a reasonable opening time.
To our delight, despite the amount of work Pacific Power needed to accomplish to restore power in the early morning hours, the Mountain’s power was finally restored on Saturday, February 8th, at 9:00 AM.
Power Restoration and Reopening Plan
We are relieved to announce that as of February 8th, power has been fully restored, and Mt. Ashland Ski Area will reopen to guests on Sunday, February 9th. As usual, all guest lodge facilities will open at 8:00 AM, and lifts are scheduled for 9:00 AM. Our team has worked tirelessly to recharge and test all essential systems, including our water supply, sewage plant, chairlifts, lodges, and safety protocols. The process of restarting operations after such an extended closure is complex. Testing lifts on auxiliary power earlier in the week depleted our battery reserves, requiring additional time to restore full functionality. Additionally, critical staff members were subject to the 6-day power outage and road closures around Colestin, the Ski Access Road, and Old Hwy 99.
Uphill access had been opened on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 5:30 AM-8:30 AM, on the morning designated routes. We expect this same access will be available on Sunday and Monday mornings, for those who have and display their uphill access pass. Any visitors that violate the rules stated in our uphill policy will lose their lift skiing privileges for this and future years, and be subject to criminal trespass
We have used the time this afternoon to ensure that the essential functions of our mountain are operational and mitigate reasonable risks. Our team is finalizing all preparations so that we can welcome guests back to the slopes with the best possible conditions.
Commitment to Our Guests and Staff
Closing the mountain—especially during prime powder days—is not a decision we take lightly. We are incredibly grateful for the hard work of our staff, who have gone above and beyond in blizzard conditions and unpredictable power failures to make reopening possible. We also want to extend our sincere appreciation to our community for your patience, understanding, and support throughout this challenging week.
Ullr has provided, and we are ready for you! We can’t wait to see you back on the mountain—finally!
~Andrew Gast, General Manager