Mount Bachelor’s Skyliner Lift Suspended for Remainder of 2021-22 Season
Mount Bachelor’s Skyliner lift in February 2021.
Background
Mount Bachelor will not run its Skyliner high-speed quad for the rest of the 2021-22 season due to mechanical issues, according to an update issued by the resort this week. The lift originally went out of commission in mid-January due to bull wheel damage, but the resort has determined that the extensive repairs required will not be completable by the end of the season. The resort has implemented operational accommodations to account for the lift’s outage, including relocating its Woodward terrain parks and running shuttles from the Skyliner parking lot, among other adjustments.
Mount Bachelor will continue to run its other lifts on a normal schedule. The Oregon resort’s season typically runs through May.
Our Take
The Skyliner lift is an important one for Mount Bachelor, providing access to solid intermediate terrain and offering service from convenient, slopeside parking. But thankfully, it isn’t one of Bachelor’s most critical lifts, given it doesn’t serve a major base area, much of its terrain is accessible by the neighboring Sunrise and Pine Marten chairs, and its terrain parks are relocatable. However, the resort has certainly felt the pressure from the lift’s suspension on busy days, as Bachelor’s other chairs have been forced to take on the crowds normally handled by Skyliner—especially on weekends and holidays when the summit is closed.
It’s worth noting that Skyliner was built in the late 1980s and is not Bachelor’s only high-speed quad from that era to have issues. The Outback lift, of a similar vintage, was forced to run at a slow speed for almost the entire 2020-21 season.
It’s a bummer that Skyliner is out for the season, but if this mechanical issue had happened to a different chairlift, the situation could have been much worse.
Considering a trip to Mount Bachelor this season? Check out our comprehensive mountain review. Additionally, check out our West Coast rankings.
