Mt. Bachelor, Oregon’s largest ski area, going up for sale

Oregon’s largest ski area, Mt. Bachelor, will be up for sale in coming weeks.

The Bend area resort’s owner, Powdr, said it was planning to sell the resort along with a handful of others, a company spokesman said.

This coming ski season would still be “business as usual” for its employees and skiers. But beyond, the future is a bit murkier.

“Over the coming weeks, we will list three of our ski resorts—Eldora, Mt. Bachelor, and SilverStar—for sale, with JP Morgan Chase managing the process,” Powdr said in a statement. The company said until the sales are finalized it would "remain dedicated to our current operations … we are committed to a seamless transition.”

No sale price has yet been listed. Powdr, which purchased Bachelor from its founders in 2001, is also planning to sell Sun Country Tours, a Bend-based outfitter it purchased in 2016.

Bachelor has 4,300 acres of lift-accessible terrain, making it the seventh largest ski area in North America, according to the company website. It’s size, long season and light and dry snow just outside Bend have made it a powerhouse for tourism in the region.

“With news of Powdr Corp’s intention to sell Mt. Bachelor and Sun Country Tours, we can only comment on the fact that both entities remain vital to our community as places to visit and because of the many wonderful people they employ,” Nate Wyeth, Visit Bend’s vice president of marketing and communications, told the Bend Bulletin. “The folks who work at Mt. Bachelor and Sun Country Tours represent the fabric of Central Oregon, and we look forward to supporting them.”

Bachelor was the second-largest private employer in Bend as of last year and the city’s fourth-largest employer overall, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting .

It’s unclear exactly what comes next.

In Vermont, Powdr is planning to sell its Killington and Pico ski areas to a small group of local investors and pass holders. But the company was tight-lipped about its plans for Central Oregon.

“As a private company, we will not be sharing any financial details,” a Powdr spokesman said.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast . Urness is the author of “ Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon ” and “ Hiking Southern Oregon .” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Mt. Bachelor, Oregon’s largest ski area, going up for sale