Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort is preparing to celebrate a milestone this winter, and the weather might deliver an early gift.

After a first month of autumn that more resembled summer, a powerful storm dropped about 14 inches of snow recently on the ski area in the Elkhorn Mountains about 34 miles northwest of Baker City.

And unlike some years, when an early snowfall is a mere tease that quickly melts, the current weather pattern looks more promising.

“This is definitely the best start we’ve seen in a very long time,” said Chelsea Judy, Anthony Lakes marketing director.

“I think it’s here to stay.”

After a stretch of warmer, drier weather that continued through Halloween, a parade of potent Pacific storms is forecast to persist for at least the next several days.

Another foot or more could fall at the ski area, which has the highest base elevation of any resort in the Northwest, at 7,100 feet.

Although it’s too early to know whether there will be enough snow for Anthony Lakes to open on Thanksgiving weekend, which is always the goal, Judy said the ski area will be ready if the weather continues to cooperate.

For most years in the past decade, opening day was delayed until December, so an early start would be an exciting kickoff to Anthony Lakes’ 60th birthday, Judy said.

The ski area officially opened on Jan. 12, 1963.

Anthony Lakes will commemorate the birthday with Throwback Thursday on Jan. 12, 2023, when lift tickets will be $2 for ages 13 to 69, and $1 for ages 7 to 12.

From Jan. 12-22, visitors are invited to bring their most memorable photo from Anthony Lakes and pin it to the “Through the Years” wall display.

The resort’s main birthday celebration will take place Saturday, Jan. 21.

Events include the Anthony Lakes Cup, a dual slalom race presented by the Anthony Lakes Ski Racing Association, live music by the Greenneck Daredevils from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and other events.

Skiers and boarders are invited to wear 1960s-style gear and attire.

Other than the 60th birthday festivities, this winter should be “business as usual” at Anthony Lakes, Judy said.

Overnight options include two yurts and the Anthony Lake Guard Station, both available for rent, as well as parking spaces, with electric hook-ups, for RVs in the lower parking area. The RV spaces are first-come, first-served.

Anthony Lakes history

Local residents started skiing in the area in the 1930s, with the formal opening of the Evergreen Ski Club and North Powder Sportsmens Booster Club happening on March 27, 1938.

The Anthony Lakes Playground Association was formed on April 21, 1938, Stan Ingram wrote in his detailed history, “Anthony, A Tale of Two Skis,” published in 1971.

After a hiatus during World War II, interest was revived in 1947 in making Anthony Lakes a skiing center for Northeastern Oregon. Two rope tows operated during the 1947-48 season.

But after two winters the momentum was lost — in part, Ingram writes, because someone stole the snowplow used to keep the steep road to the resort open, then drove it over an embankment, destroying the machine.

Although some skiers continued to hike to the slopes, the main skiing destination during the 1950s was at Little Alps, about three miles east of Anthony Lakes.

The focus returned, however, to the higher elevation site just west of Anthony Lake in 1962. The effort, led in part by the Baker County Chamber of Commerce, was aided by a visit, in January 1962, of Oregon Gov. Mark Hatfield (later a longtime U.S. senator).

During a dinner hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, Hatfield announced that the state had allocated $35,000 to pave 2.7 miles of the Anthony Lakes Highway.

That summer the Anthony Lakes Corporation was formed, and with proceeds from a stock sale, the corporation installed a Pomalift. It carried its first skiers on Jan. 12, 1963, with tickets $2 for adults and $1 for children — hence the Throwback Thursday prices set for Jan. 12, 2023.

The current day lodge opened in 1967.