Our Picks for the Week 7/16-7/23

If you've lived in Bend for more than a year or two, you've probably had one of those days when you head up to Bachelor hoping for 6-8 inches of untracked powder only to find that the rain in town translates to rain on the mountain. And unless you're a season pass holder, you've either outright asked or wondered why you couldn't get a refund.

This year it's going to be a little different on our local ski hill, according to Mt. Bachelor officials who announced their new pricing structure for next year. And while the mountain won't be giving out refunds, it has announced a radical and, from what we can tell, unprecedented, tiered pricing structure for daily lift tickets this coming season. This winter, guests will pay on a sliding scale depending on the weather and lift operations. On the worst of non-holidays, Bachelor will charge guests $49 to ski or ride. Average days will be $59 and optimal conditions with full lift operations will be $69.
The new pricing is designed to pair the cost of skiing with the conditions, which can be widely variable at Bachelor, said Alex Kaufman, marketing director.
"If it's ugly, it's going to be the cheap rate. If it's an average day, it's going to be the middle rate. If it's a bomber day, it's the high rate. We're trying to match the number to the experience," Kaufman said.
Other major changes in store for next year include a long-overdue multi-day pass that's available to locals.

The colorado spillway at present. Deschutes River drownings and close calls have become a grim summer ritual around Bend when a combination of tourists and well-lubricated locals descends on the urban waterways. And it isn't just the waterfalls and whitewater that have been causing headaches for rescuers and others charged with public safety. Man-made obstacles around Bend are responsible for many of the accidents and several deaths.

One of the major culprits has been the nearly 100-year-old Colorado Avenue spillway, which can send an unwitting rafter plunging into a garden of sharp rocks and churning whitewater - if the boater isn't first pinned against the steel reinforcement bars under the bridge.
The spillway, which sits smack in the middle of a popular summertime inner tube float between Farewell Bend and Drake parks, has claimed one drowning victim and seen several near misses in the past few years. The section, which otherwise meanders lazily through the Old Mill, has grown increasingly popular with floaters since the opening of Farewell Bend Park in 2004.
But as summer rolls on in Bend, it appears that a plan to make the dam safer for floaters will have to wait at least another season while details of the proposal are hashed out between stakeholders, including the park district, local paddlers, dam owner Bill Smith and conservationists.

If you've lived in Bend for more than a year or two, you've probably had one of those days when you head up to Bachelor hoping for 6-8 inches of untracked powder only to find that the rain in town translates to rain on the mountain. And unless you're a season pass holder, you've either outright asked or wondered why you couldn't get a refund.

This year it's going to be a little different on our local ski hill according to Mt. Bachelor officials who announced their new pricing structure for next year. And while the mountain won't be giving out refunds, it has announced a radical and, from what we can tell, unprecedented, tiered pricing structure for daily lift tickets this coming season. This winter, guests will pay on a sliding scale depending on the weather and lift operations. On the worst of non-holidays, Bachelor will charge guests $49 to ski or ride. Average days will be $59 and optimal conditions with full lift operations will be $69.
The new pricing is designed to pair the cost of skiing with the conditions, which can be widely variable at Bachelor, said Alex Kaufman, marketing director.