Mt. Bachelor ski area saw one of its worst Christmas-to-New Year’s periods in a decade after warm, wet weather, followed by a knockout storm, combined to derail what could have been a record holiday season, according to a resort official.

”We did all right,” said Carly Carmichael, director of sales and marketing. ”I don’t want to sound negative, but the weather gave us some challenges.”

Despite a record-setting day that drew more than 13,000 guests to the ski area on Dec. 29, Mt. Bachelor finished the two-week holiday run roughly 7 percent off last year’s pace for visits.

It’s disappointing news for Bachelor, which boasted one of the nation’s best snowpacks for most of December and saw a strong Thanksgiving holiday.

Adding to the frustration was that many of the hotels and other lodging properties were full for the two-week period, meaning that skiers and snowboarders likely were in town – just not at the mountain.

Sunriver Resort reported its 238 hotel rooms were full throughout the holiday and that reservations in its 350 rental homes were up about 20 percent.

The resort added a last-minute Christmas brunch and booked 650 reservations.

”The story is very positive,” said ShanRae Hawkins, Sunriver Resort spokeswoman.

The resort set record numbers for food and beverage sales and recreational activities, she said.

”We were slammed,” Hawkins said. ”It was peak summer-day-like business.”

At Mount Bachelor Village Resort, December reservations were up 30 percent from 2004, said Michelle Marquis, director of sales and marketing. The resort turned away about 170 potential reservations during the two-week holiday period when it was full, Marquis said.

Other nonskiing businesses reported strong sales activity for the holidays.

The Shops at the Old Mill District, which includes the new REI store, set a record for December sales, said Lisa Norris, office manager at The Shops.

”The holiday season was the best The Shops have done by far,” she said. ”We do attribute some of that to REI, but it was a very good holiday season.”

Not all the ski areas were hit as hard as Bachelor by the warm weather and subsequent storm that caused widespread flooding in Bend on Dec. 30. The storm dropped approximately 40 inches of wet snow on the mountain in less than 36 hours.

At Hoodoo Resort on Santiam Pass, skier and snowboarder numbers were solid over the holiday season after a dismal showing in 2004, when the resort didn’t open until almost New Year’s Eve for lack of snow, said Matt McFarland, general manager.

”We had a great holiday season this year,” said McFarland, whose resort hosted a New Year’s Eve party that drew about 500 guests and featured a bluegrass band.

However, the holiday period was relatively uneven overall, with warm, wet weather keeping skiers and snowboarders at bay on some days and other days featuring relatively large crowds.

At Mt. Hood Meadows, spokesman Dave Tragethon said overall numbers were about what the resort expected. However, business largely came on a few days.

”It seemed like everybody was picking the same day to come up to the mountain,” Tragethon said.

The ski area saw more than 7,000 visitors the Thursday before New Year’s Day.

”Those are really good holiday numbers,” he said.

At Willamette Pass Resort, holiday numbers were probably a little below the 10-year average, said Ray Gardner, mountain manager.

The powerful storm that hit Central Oregon Dec. 30 also smacked the Willamette Pass area. Gardner said the storm knocked out power to the mountain, leaving the resort on back-up power on Friday to keep lifts running.

One of the surprises for ski resorts was the amount of business on Monday, Jan. 2, a designated holiday because New Year’s Day fell on Sunday.

All four ski areas saw unexpectedly large crowds Jan. 2.

”That day after New Year’s was huge regionwide and that was a surprise,” said Scott Kaden, president of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association in Hood River.

Kaden said the association doesn’t have any numbers yet for the holiday season for its members – which are located in Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Alaska and Montana. He didn’t want to guess at the overall performance of the Northwest ski industry over the holidays.

He said the resorts already are looking forward to next weekend’s Martin Luther King holiday weekend.

”It’s a big three-day stretch and and it’s grown in importance over the years to compete with Presidents Day weekend for the most key three-day weekend of the year,” Kaden said.