News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The resort has hosted more than 16,000 visitors so far this season according to General Manager Mike Obymako -- somewhat below earlier projections but far above the disastrous beginning recorded this time last year. And Hoodoo's annual Winter Carnival, scheduled for February 8, is expected to bring addtional visitors to the resort.
"Some adverse weather during the Christmas holiday hurt us," Obymako said. "We had rain with the exception of one day during a real prime business period for us. But our numbers are up several hundred percent over last year. We lost all of December and Christmas break last year. So, comparatively speaking, this is an excellent year."
Obymako says this season's volume is 10 to 15 percent off a pace expected to lead to about 50,000 visits this year. Perhaps as many as 3,000 visitor days were lost during the Christmas holiday, a period that in strong years can account for as much as 20 percent of the facility's yearly volume.
Still, Obymako says, there's nothing like a heavy snowpack to turn things around later in the season.
"Normally, we go into Christmas with three or four feet of snow," he said. "We were at eight to 10 feet before the rain started, and we're still well above average."
A recent survey by scientists with the federal government show last month's Cascades snowpack to be about 40 percent greater than that of an average January.
Weather in recent weeks hasn't been any more stable than December's, however. As another system of relatively warm, moist air swept into the Northwest from the Pacific, Hoodoo received several days of rain late last week, but maintained a snow base of between 70 and 100 inches.
Saturday's Winter Carnival will include snow sculpting and a giant snow castle, a fireworks display, a dummy downhill event, a roast pig buffet dinner and a torchlight descent of the mountain.
Hoodoo also regularly hosts races between regional high school ski teams, and this year will be the site of the State 3A/4A High School Championships in March. Approximately 200 skiers are expected to compete in that event. Hoodoo will also host a snowmobile hill-climbing contest in early April.
Though he's in no hurry to see the winter snowpack disappear, Obymako also pointed out that Hoodoo is planning to begin expansion this summer. The area currently offers 23 ski runs on 800 acres and can accommodate about 2,000 skiers a day. When completed, expansion should double the number of skiers Hoodoo can handle.
Business at Hoodoo easily equates to business in Sisters, as skiers, snowmobilers and event spectators venture into the city for lodging, meals and other amenities.
Motel reservations associated with the Winter Carnival were already being made early last week, and Manager Marcia Gilbert of the Best Western Ponderosa Inn expected most of the area's accommodations to be filled for the special event.
On average weekends, Gilbert says, about 10 percent of her guests have taken advantage of ski packages in which the motel offers lodging and lift tickets at a special rate.
"We've had a good season so far," Gilbert said. "It could be better, but we can't complain. We've lost some business because of bad weather."
Gilbert and Comfort Inn Manager Heidi Krewson also expect their establishments to fill up for the high school ski championships, and both managers hope the ski season stretches well into spring.
Hoodoo's Obymako isn't making any promises, but he shares a certain optimism with Gilbert and Krewson.
"Typically, we'll get two weekends into April and then assess conditions at that point," he said. "All in all it looks like it's going to be a profitable season."
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