BEND, Ore. -- If Central Oregonians needed any more evidence on how seasons can turn on a dime after a cool, rainy weekend, they only had to visit or look up at the (temporarily?) snowy slopes of Mt. Bachelor on Labor Day.

No one is about to claim the late-summer snowfall will stick around. But for skiers, snowboarders and snow-lovers of all ages, it’s a tantalizing, hopeful sign of what’s to come, especially after a fiery, smoky, record wildfire summer across Oregon.

The resort was open on Monday and was spinning its main lift, Pine Marten until 7 p.m., Communications and Community Relations Manager Presley Quon said. 

Several bike trails off Pine Marten opened around noon, a delayed opening due to snow on the trail - except for Redline, Rockfall and Last Chance, which were closed due to that very early snow. Temperatures had warmed to the 40s by the afternoon, but patches of snow were still clearly in sight.

Quon said Mt. Bachelor switches to fall operating hours on Tuesday.

And then?

“The 2026/27 ski season is expected to kick off in early December, or earlier if conditions allow,” Quon said, as the resort hedges its bets on a traditional Thanksgiving weekend opening.

She told the Bugle, "We’ll open as soon as we have enough snow. That could be sometime in November or December. We haven’t released an official opening date yet, but expect it to be early December, based on trends from the past decade."