At 7,533 feet, Mount Ashland Oregon is the highest point
in the Siskiyou Mountains — the perfect location
for a ski area. Situated on top of Mount Ashland Oregon,
Mt Ashland Ski Resort offers magnificent views of southern
Oregon and northern
California. The high-elevation location has other
benefits too: Mt Ashland Ski Resort gets an average annual
snowfall of 300 inches, ensuring that the chutes and bowl
are well blanketed throughout the ski season.
Mount Ashland Oregon is named after the nearby town
of Ashland, 10 miles north of
the ski area. Ashland is the home of the world renowned
Oregon Shakespeare Festival and many of the trails at
Mt Ashland Ski Resort reflect this literary heritage:
Avon, Romeo, Juliet, Sonnet, Tempest, Ariel, and Caliban,
to name a few. The 23 designated runs cover the gamut,
from extreme bowl skiing to a gentle bunny slope; with
runs like these, no season will be a winter of discontent.
Beginners’ terrain at Mt Ashland Ski Area is limited to the small introductory area near the base lodge serviced by one of the resorts four chairlifts. Once you’ve mastered turning on the Sonnet run, it is a small step up to the blue slopes on the main mountain, though the wide-open blue run beneath the Comer chair should be manageable for most skiers and boarders.
The best intermediate terrain at Mt Ashland Oregon is located off the Windsor chair. Avon, Romeo, Tempest, and Winter all have a manageable pitch and a good cruising surface. Bottom is a slightly more challenging black run to skiers’ right of the lift.
Advanced skiers and snowboarder should take the Windsor chair and warm up on Avon and Tempest before getting on the Ariel lift, which services mostly black diamond runs: Upper Tempest, Balcony, Ado, and Pistol, among others. There are also some good cruising blues that come down almost the entire vertical drop of Mt Ashland Oregon, over 1,100 feet.
Experts should head skiers’ left from the top of the Ariel chair. Mt Ashland’s famous Cirque bowl put this Oregon ski area on the map. The steep chutes that carve between the trees are as challenging as any terrain in the state, even at the Mount Hood ski areas. In promotional literature, Mt Ashland Ski Area boasts, “If you can ski Mount Ashland, you can ski anywhere.” After a few hair-raising runs down the Cirque, this claim makes sense.
The Cirque is closed for night skiing, but 10 runs near the Mt Ashland ski base remain open for discounted skiing and snowboarding.
With just 200 skiable acres, Mt Ashland Ski Resort is
a relatively small resort. Proposed plans for expansion
have been controversial. The expanded beginners terrain
would be welcomed by many families, but not if it came
at the expense of Mt Ashland’s unique spirit. As
it is, Mt Ashland Oregon is a community-owned mountain,
with a friendly atmosphere and affordable ticket prices.
Just three hours from Eugene OR,
Mt Ashland Oregon is a great place for a laid-back ski
weekend. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself
reciting Shakespeare lines as you carve your way down
the slopes.
