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Ski USA - Oregon

Willamette Pass Resort Reviews


Willamette Pass Forecasts
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Visitor reviews for Willamette Pass Ski Resort

Willamette Pass Ratings

Overall: 2.7. Based on 20 votes and 12 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 3.0

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Willamette Pass is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 3.1

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Willamette Pass has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 3.3

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 3.7

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.6

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Willamette Pass

Public Transport: 2.9

  • There are no buses or taxis to Willamette Pass
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 2.2

  • No places to stay in/near Willamette Pass
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 2.4

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 1.2

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Willamette Pass

Ski in/Ski out: 2.1

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 1.6

  • There are no child care facilities at Willamette Pass
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 2.0

  • Willamette Pass relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.1

  • There are no snow groomers at Willamette Pass
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Willamette Pass are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.8

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Willamette Pass is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.6

  • If snow conditions are poor at Willamette Pass, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 2.7

  • Willamette Pass usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 3.2

  • The staff at Willamette Pass are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Willamette Pass are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 4.2

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 2.0

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 3.1

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 3.6

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 3.6

  • No intermediate terrain at Willamette Pass
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 3.2

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 2.0

  • Not even a kicker at Willamette Pass
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.7

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Willamette Pass
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 1.4

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Willamette Pass has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 1.8

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 2.4

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 2.3

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 1.3

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 1.6

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 2.7

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.7

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.3

  • Overall, Willamette Pass is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.5

  • Overall, Willamette Pass is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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January 15, 2021
Stacie from Ski USA - California USA - California
If I could give zero stars, I would. However, shout out to the younger girl who hands out the snowboards downstairs and the older gentleman who was the greeter, they were seriously the only good part of my trip. Willamette Pass double charged me and is refusing to give it back, took $496 out of my account instead of $248!! Their customer service is a joke, when I tried to email to explain what happened they were nothing but snarky and I was basically told “tough luck.” It has been a long back and forth conversation of them being rude and now they won’t even answer my email! I’ve tried calling multiple times which gives no option to speak to somebody and I even talked to them at the resort before I emailed and was told the refund would “take a while, try again in two months” by the front ticket lady. Since they now won’t even reply I had to open a fraudulent dispute with my bank. Not to mention while we were there every employee was down right rude (apart from two people we interacted with mentioned above) and acted like they hated their life or would rather be anywhere else. The lift operators were not attentive at all either and we saw a lot of “almost accidents” which we seriously so scary to see. This was my first and last time coming here. I’d sooo much rather spend more money traveling to Mt Bachelor than ever, ever return here. At least there I know they have integrity as well as their customers safety as a priority. It’s been over a week since I posted this same review on their Google and Facebook. The owner appears to have ‘liked’ only the good recent comments, I’m still being blatantly ignored! This is outrageous. Out of all the money they made that day and they’re still refusing to just refund the extra $250 they charged me!
January 17, 2019
Ben Hansen from Ski USA - California USA - California
Willamette Pass is a fantastic place for a wide range of skiing. I grew up skiing in CO. I recently decided to teach my family (wife and 3 daughters, 6, 9 and 11) to ski. It's been a fantastic resort for us. The greens are ideally organized. The bunny hill, Sleep Hollow, is actually long and steep enough to teach new skiers how to turn. Likewise, over on the twilight lift, Duck Soup is a perfect 1.2 mile long beginner run (and what I love to warm up on). There's no blues or black runs cutting through it (so you have experts or crazy teenagers flying by). Sally's Way and Peek-a-boo get moderately more difficult. So, from terrain perspective its great. For more advanced skiers, there's double diamonds like RTS or a 15 foot cliff on the north side. There's long groomed blues like Endurance. Because there's no lines, I can easily drop the kids for a lesson or lunch and ski myself silly for two hours. The only negatives is that the resort is low enough that sometimes the snowpack can be low or the snow can turn to rain. But that happens everywhere in OR. Not everywhere can like CO (where you have base elevations at 10,000+ at several resorts). But if you are from Eugene, and want some beautiful views, reasonable prices, and terrain for a wide variety of skiers, you can't do any better than Willamette Pass.
March 31, 2012
Eug resident from Ski USA - California USA - California
When it has good snow it's great. But beware their snow phone line for conditions is unreliable, will tell it's great and you get there and it's raining. Been coming here for years and have good memories, but again make sure you get an accurate weather report, it does struggle with good snow.
March 02, 2012
Ira from Ski USA - California USA - California
I've skied and boarded a number of places--all over the ice coast and a fair few places in the PNW, around Colorado, in Australia and New Zealand, and at some very nice mountains in Austria--and I've never been anywhere that's better value for money. Certainly, there are longer runs and more beautiful vistas out there, warm gondolas and cozy lodges. Of course there are--this just isn't one of the big mountains. But, for a small mountain, Willamette Pass is flat-out incredible. Some good steeps and great powder stashes that don't get played out too quickly, long enough runs to be ready for a hot chocolate after three or four, pretty stunning views of Diamond Peak (even from the beginner side of the mountain!) and the Sisters, lots of quality snow (as long as it comes down cold--the Cascades just aren't as high as the Rockies or Alps), and reasonably quick lifts sheltered among the trees. But best of all? You can head out on a bluebird day after a big dump--an hour and a half or so from Eugene--find the parking lot full and the overflow lot half full, and still not ever actually wait in line at the lift. Willamette Pass is so good I almost don't want to tell you about it. (Oh, and did I mention that a season pass is an unbeatable $350 for full-time students [even grad students]?) Downsides? The lodge basically sucks--very minimal in terms of amenities, and often a bit chilly. There's no ski village, etc. Basically, the downsides are all the things you might be looking for from a major resort. Willamette Pass doesn't have 'em. On the other hand, it's close enough to Eugene or Bend to make a day-trip painless, and the rides feel, on the whole, way more like a big mountain than a small one.
January 12, 2012
mckayla from Ski USA - California USA - California
French fry things are very good, so is the rest of food.
December 20, 2011
georg from Ski Germany Germany
Yes, I like Willamette Pass a lot in winter when it has a little bit of snow, but it has no snow yet I will go skiing at Willamette Pass all the way from Bonn to Frankfurt to Denver to Portland to Redmond, where I stay with my family and go skiing at Willamette pass. But I can only do this if there is enough snow, so otherwise, I will have to go to Mt. Bachelor because I already have my airplane tickets.
December 11, 2011
Kelli Ross from Ski USA - California USA - California
I cannot wait to go, but there is only 15 in. of snow at the base so far this year. Success, Amber's Way, and By George are my all-time favorite runs-- and I've been to Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Hood, Hawaii, Switzerland, and Colorado to ski. That's how much I love Willamette Pass.
November 12, 2011
Bobbi Park from Ski USA - California USA - California
I love Duck Soup. There's a shortcut from it over to By George which has a little string of flowers around a tree for a kid from Eugene who died. It's usually icy, but it's hidden and special and so much fun. The bunny slope is so easy I could sleep going down it. However, when I was eight, I though Sleepy Hollow was the most amazing thing ever and I would race my little brother down it all the time. Also, the hot chocolate is good. Scalding hot, but good.
November 05, 2011
Ella Reed from Ski USA - California USA - California
My school went skiing to Willamette Pass and it was, as always, amazing fun and runs. I wish there were a few more, and the parks weren't anything special. My favorite run is Kaleidoscope/Rosary Run, but I also like Eagle's Flight and the shortcut on it over to Good Time Charlie. Overall, it's a great place to learn to ski and even has some challenging runs for good skiers, like RTS, a double black diamond.
February 18, 2011
joe jew from Ski Pakistan Pakistan
I like the bunny hill at Willamette Pass. So fast and it's like a mile long. No bowls so bring your own.