Joe Kline / The Bulletin Josh Dodson, of Bend, gets air over a patch of dirt on his way to the lift for another run during the last day of the season at Mt. Bachelor on Sunday.

MOUNT BACHELOR — Ski season came to a close Sunday at Mt. Bachelor, earlier than normal and, due to quickly vanishing snow, without the pond-skimming event regularly held on the last weekend of the season.

“There is just no snow to steal to make a pond in our base area,” said Drew Jackson, spokesman for Mt. Bachelor, explaining why the ski area west of Bend canceled the North American Pond Skimming Championships. The event centers around a 100-foot-long, 4-foot-deep pond created in a cradle of snow.

For the past four years, Mt. Bachelor’s last ski operations for the season were on Memorial Day weekend at the end of the May. This year, they came on the second weekend of the month — the earliest closure in nearly 40 years. The combination of little snow on the mountain’s lower reaches and lack of pond skimming Sunday made for a mellow end to the season.

The last day of the year at Bachelor typically draws 2,000 to 3,000 skiers and snowboarders, Jackson said. Sunday saw about 1,000 visitors.

It was Mother’s Day, and some moms celebrated the holiday on the mountain with their kids. Carlene Perry, of Bend, was skiing with her 8-year-old twin sons, Aidan and Curran Jacobus .

“We just wanted some closure on the season — a couple last runs to call it good,” she said.

Some skiers and snowboarders signaled the end of the season Sunday by hitting the slopes in costume. Superman with a tiny cape, a pink unicorn with a plush horn and a penguin with a red bow tie cycled through the lift line. Three of the mountain’s lifts — Pine Marten, Skyliner and Summit — were open for the last day.

If they had it, most of the skiers and snowboarders had their “rock” equipment — or older gear used in thin snow, when scraping on rocks is likely — said David Rosell, 46, of Bend. He gave Mt. Bachelor’s groomers kudos Sunday for making do with what snow they had this year. He was skiing Sunday with his son, Jack, 10.

“It wasn’t a bad season,” David Rosell said, “just different.”

A member of the ski patrol at Willamette Pass on state Highway 58, John Fischer, 61, of Eugene, said Sunday was only his second day skiing with the help of a lift this season. The snow situation this year was even worse for lower-elevation ski areas in Oregon, such as Willamette Pass, which he said was only open for two days this year.

On Sunday, Fischer was determined to get in as much skiing as he could at Mt. Bachelor.

“I like it when it is sloppy, slushy and warm,” he said, “so I’ll ski to the last chair.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7812, ddarling@bendbulletin.com