With all the snow falling on Mount Bachelor, this week, the ski area expects to open the 2022-23 season on Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving.

The Skyliner chairlift is also expected to be running by the time Mt. Bachelor opens to skiers and snowboarders. Skyliner was shut down in December and remained closed for the rest of last season. One of the Skyliner’s 14-foot-wide bull wheels recently underwent repairs, and returned to the mountain on Saturday, Johnny Sereni, spokesman for Mt. Bachelor told The Bulletin on Tuesday.

“The bull wheel arrived, a little bit delayed because of the ice on the road. The crew got it up and into place the same day it arrived. They are just finishing up some of the mechanics around it now, and we are going to start testing it and spinning it in the next few days,” Sereni said. “We will get it inspected and it will be up and running in time.” Skyliner will be dismantled and replaced with a brand new six-person lift, which is expected to open for the 2023-24 ski season.

The anticipated start to the season this winter is earlier than in the past couple of seasons. Last season, the resort opened in a limited capacity on Dec. 13, and in 2020, it opened on Dec. 7 with 40 inches of snow recorded on the mountain. However, a mid- to late-November start to the season has been relatively common over the years.

This year, snow came later than usual, but Sereni said so far it is packing down nicely and more snow is expected in the near future.

“We are getting good snowfalls, one after the other. They are not huge amounts of snow, but they are packing down to a nice base which is freezing the ground,” he said. “We start making snow today as well. And there are more cold fronts coming in the next week or so, and we are expecting a little more.”

At this point, the mountain expects two more cold fronts to bring snow in the coming days, Sereni said. He said if the weather keeps up, the resort will open on schedule. However, gauging how much snow is needed to open properly is the key question.

“It is kind of the million-dollar question: How much snow do you need? It is a lot about where the snow falls, how much is in certain areas, and what kind of snow,” Sereni said. “So, it really does depend on the snow at that given time. But if we can get at least one run open from top to bottom and groomed with no obstacles, just good snow cover, we’ll open a lift.”

Although the lifts are not running quite yet, Sereni encouraged people to come up to the mountain and enjoy the snow. He was pleased to see a cross-country skier slide past his office window on Tuesday.

Matt Callihan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Pendleton, said Mount Bachelor could start to see some snow accumulate Friday night into Saturday morning with 1-3 inches expected. Then Saturday night into Sunday, 3-6 inches is expected to fall.

Snow levels are projected initially at 5,000 feet. Then by Saturday and into Sunday the snow level is expected to gradually drop to lower elevations, Callihan added.