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Mountain Operations Update: Continued Closure 2.05.2025

The Mt. Ashland Ski Area Team regrets to announce that we are forced to remain CLOSED on Thursday, February 6th. We will be issuing refunds to all individuals with reservations for tomorrow so please expect an email from us.

As of 7:00 pm, the Ski Area is still without power, and the revised estimate for restoration is 10:00 am tomorrow. Originally, we anticipated power being restored this afternoon, so this new estimate time is still uncertain.

Impact of Power Outage: The primary power source for all of our chairlifts is the main electric line and the lifts cannot load guests on generator power. Even if power is restored overnight, our team requires electricity to hand shovel snow for all five chairlift terminals.

Let us explain:

Our groomers can only get so close to the lifts and the bottom terminals, in particular, require substantial effort from a crew of individuals to dig them out. If we have to extract that personnel, in the event of an emergency, it is essential to have both phone and radio communication with the outside world, as well as power at the patrol rooms and lift stations. Clearing the terminals manually is a time-intensive process, and as such, it is not feasible to have the mountain prepared in time for a timely opening.

We’ve received reports of approximately four feet of snow so far, and it continues to accumulate.

The power outage means that communication on mountain is very limited, and our webcams are offline. Due to the significant snow accumulation, the only means of transport across the mountain are our snowcats. If there is no power, to protect Mt. Ashland staff, we do not have any personnel outside on the mountain other than inside a snow cat. These snowcats have been crucial for transporting essential personnel to various locations, such as the water supply station. And these same cats that have had to move critical personnel around the mountain are also the ones that need to winch to maintain our trails and build and maintain snowed over roads just to be able to safely open our mountain to our guests

In simple terms, without power, we are unable to operate. The suspension of Mountain Operations and snowcat activity yesterday was a major setback.

Closure tomorrow: As of 8:30 am tomorrow, the Mountain will be CLOSED to all. The only personnel authorized to be within Ski Area boundaries are Ski Patrol, Mountain Operations Crew and Staff and personnel critical to getting Mt. Ashland Ski Area open.

Porta Potty Update: We initiated contact with porta potty companies beginning early Sunday morning and finally secured a company on Monday willing to deliver the necessary 15 units and provide regular cleaning. On Tuesday, the porta potty company was unable to complete delivery due to road closures on I-5. Finally today, 8 units were delivered, and we now have functioning toilets on site.

While we are making progress on the water supply system, we are unable to test anything until power is restored.

A Challenging Situation: This is undoubtedly a perfect storm, both literally and figuratively. We continue to navigate numerous challenges, but our team is determined to reopen as soon as we possibly can.

We sincerely appreciate the positive thoughts and support we’ve received from our community as we work through these difficulties. We will continue to update you tomorrow on the plans to reopen!

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