Hoodoo celebrates 75th birthday

Hoodoo ski area kicked off it's 75th birthday celebration on Saturday greeting skiers with prize giveaways, deals for skiers through the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, and a late afternoon bonfire with s'mores and a hot cider toast.

Hoodoo's official lodging sponsor, Black Butte Ranch, was also on-hand offering discounted lodging that included two lift tickets, or four Autobahn tubing passes, free pizzas and free passes to Sisters Movie House. As a part of the 75th anniversary celebration, Black Butte Ranch provided a $75 spending card with a three-night stay at the Ranch.

"We've been partnering with Hoodoo for the last three or four years," said Scott Huntsman, president and CEO of Black Butte Ranch. "And that partnership has slowly evolved, but has begun to grow and take on a new life and we've been really thrilled the way our partnership has evolved. It's probably one of our strongest partnerships that we do and it's great that it can be kept within the local community."

Also a part of the celebration, Hoodoo is offering 75 days of prize drawings. People can register for the drawing either at Hoodoo's Facebook page or at http://www.hoodoo.com.

"This year we decided to extend the celebration all season, and we're doing that by kicking off the celebration today with Black Butte Ranch. They were here today giving away prizes and we're going to have a fire in the bowl tonight with s'mores for the kids, hot cider, and a nice outdoor marshmallow roast," said Leif Williams, marketing director for Hoodoo Ski Area. "Another thing we have going on is 75 days of giveaways. We've reached out to different vendors and different brands we buy from and they've given us snowboards, backbacks, goggles, jackets, gift certificates, enough prizes for 75 days. And that will go through March 29."

Initially, Bend businessman Ed Thurston and his investors planned to create a ski area on Three Fingered Jack, but when funding for the four-mile road to the planned resort didn't materialize Thurston instead received a permit to create a ski area at Hoodoo in 1938, starting with a rope tow powered by nothing more than a car engine. Current owner Chuck Shepard of Eugene, bought the business in 1999 and added new lifts, more acreage and built the 60,000-square-foot lodge.

Always a family-friendly ski area, and a big favorite of those from Eugene and Salem, Hoodoo's unique placement in the Cascades and relatively low elevation can make it a challenge to be profitable some years.

"We've had a tough couple of years and we've wanted to just get control of what we do well. A lot of our difficulties have been weather-related, last year especially," Williams said. "This year, it's been about as perfect as can be, starting with a good base that started early and heavy. Winter break we had a couple of powder days mixed in with some bluebird days and lately we've had a lot of sunny days, but it's been cold enough that the snow hasn't melted. We got up to about 88 inches at one point and still have about 68, and it looks like the rest of the winter should be alright."