Wednesday, January 11, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
13
Mighty snowfall makes for best holiday season ever at Hoodoo
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Correspondent
“This was the best holi-
day season for Hoodoo of
all time! Best holiday week,
December and New Year’s
Eve in the 80 years we have
been operating.”
Those are the words of
Daidre Streeter, office man-
ager at Hoodoo Ski Resort.
“Many joyful employees and
guests were simply over-
whelmed by the remarkable
holiday season. The theme
of our holiday was ‘Can you
believe this?’”
Streeter seemed euphoric
over the change in Hoodoo’s
fortunes. Hoodoo has suffered
through some tough seasons
in recent years.
“An astonishing Tuesday
storm before Christmas lead
to a bluebird-perfect pow-
der day,” she said. “Then
perfect blue skies led to yet
another unbelievable storm
on Sunday, New Year’s Day,
followed by another.”
A year ago, Hoodoo’s sea-
son was a big improvement
over many of the lean recent
years. Even so, this current
season is far outpacing that
good year.
“Our base is now 78
inches … deepest snowpack
at this time of year in over a
decade. So I have been doing
the numbers,” said Streeter,
“and last December we oper-
ated 14 days and our skier
and tuber visits were around
17,000. This December we
operated 22 days and our vis-
its were around 28,000.”
That’s a whopping 65 per
cent increase over last season.
This season’s bonanza of
snow has not been without its
challenges. Hoodoo, which is
renowned for its no-wait ski
lifts, uncharacteristically had
some actual lift-lines during
hours of peak operation.
“Our parking lot was
overfull. We actually turned
people away because we ran
out of parking. Even though
the lines were long, we had
smiles all around,” she said.
“The sunshine helped. We ran
out of rentals by 10:30 a.m.
every day. We had employees
lending their personal skis to
customers just so they could
ski.”
New Year’s Eve, always
a popular event at Hoodoo,
reached epic proportions this
year. “We had close to 4,000
people here on New Year’s
Eve. The fireworks were
spectacular. We actually had
to turn people away at one
point on New Year’s Eve.
The lift line was so long for
night skiing on New Year’s
Eve that when we sold tickets,
we told people they may only
get one run in, if that. They
didn’t even care! Overall,
everybody was so happy for
Hoodoo’s success.
“We had our lodge man-
ager selling tickets mobile
with his phone, just to get the
lines down. It worked great!
People said they had never
seen anything like it. We had
little kids write letters to our
lift manager saying thank you
for helping us get our skis and
saving us from the longest
Fri 4:15, 7:00
Sat-Sun 1:30, 4:15,
7:15
Mon-Thurs 4:15, 7:00
Feb 17 / Fri / 8-11 PM
Hidden Figures
They are pungent, not
subtle. Dirty bluegrass
band from Portland.
Fri 4:00, 6:45
Sat-Sun 1:30, 4:15,
7:00
Mon-Thurs 4:00, 6:45
Tommy Castro
and the
Painkillers
Playing music guaranteed
to fi re up fans and leave
critics searching for new
words of praise.
Mar 9 / Thurs /
8-11 PM
Breakfast, lunch and
libations, Th ursday
through Tuesday,
from 8 a.m. to 3 p
p.m.
541.549.2699
403 E. Hood Ave.
Starts Friday
Patriots Day (R)
Sassparilla!
Zepparella
Zepparella explores their
own improvised magic
within the framework of
Zeppelin’s mighty songs!
PUB OPENS 1 HR PRIOR TO SHOWS
BelfryEvents.com
541-815-9122
Rent The Belfry!
Perfect venue for live music,
weddings, receptions,
meetings, or any event.
PHOTO BY CRAIG F. EISENBEIS
Skiers are enjoying an unprecedented season at Hoodoo.
9 p.m. both nights, along with
a fire pit on the patio.
In addition to the fun
and games, the Corvallis
Mountain Rescue Unit will
also be offering presentations
(PG)
La La Land
(PG-13)
Fri 4:45, 7:30
Sat-Sun 2:00, 4:45,
7:30
Mon-Thurs 4:45, 7:30
Fences (PG-13)
Fri 4:30, 7:15
Sat-Sun 1:45,
4:30, 7:15
Mon-Thurs 4:30, 7:15
Movie times and titles are
bsite
subject to change. Visit we
n.
atio
rm
info
st
late
or call for
WWW.SISTERS
MOVIEHOUSE.COM
541-549-8800
and information on back-
country safety, avalanche
searching, and opportunities
to practice skills associated
with backcountry travel and
beacon searching.
ENTERTAINMENT•EVENTS
Wed.~Jan. 11
Monday~Jan. 23
Sisters Saloon Texas Hold
’Em Tournament! 7 p.m.
Every Wednesday! For more
information call 541-549-7427
or go to sisterssaloon.net.
Sisters High School BINGO
& Community Dinner 5
to 6:30 p.m. for dinner, just
$2 per plate! 6:30 p.m. for
BINGO, $15 for 11 games
with great prizes! Sponsored
by Outlaws Together and
SPRD. Fundraiser for SHS
athletics. For more info call
Tim Roth at 541-549-4050.
Saturday~Jan. 14
Fri., Jan. 13 – Thurs., Jan. 19
Mar 1 / Wed /
7-10:30 PM
We look
forward to
serving you
in 2017
line ever.”
In summing up the season
so far, Streeter said, “Pretty
much the best season in the
history of ever!”
Meanwhile, the snow con-
tinues to fall; and Hoodoo
is prepping for its next big
event, their Backcountry
Festival scheduled for Friday,
January 20 and Saturday,
January 21.
Sponsored by Three
Creeks Brewing Company,
this year’s festival features the
newest in 2017 backcountry
gear, seminars, industry pros,
live music, a beer garden, fat
bike races, and Nordic and
alpine ski races. Interactive
displays will give attendees
the opportunity to learn how
best to outfit themselves for
backcountry adventures. The
festival will also offer safety
seminars for backcountry
enthusiasts. In addition, par-
ticipants will be able to test
fat bikes, skis, boots, bindings
and other equipment.
Blazin Saddles bike shop
will have a fat bike course
set up for visitors to conduct
test rides. The Three Creeks
Brewing Company Beer
Garden will be open until
Sisters Saloon Live Music
with the Bobby Lindstrom
Band 8 p.m. Blues and
rock, no cover! For more
information call 541-549-7427
or go to sisterssaloon.net.
Cork Cellars Live Music
with Doug & Katie
Cavanaugh 7 to 9 p.m.
No cover! For additional
information call 541-549-2675
or go to corkcellars.com.
Sisters Schools Sisters
Shootout Basketball
Tournament 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For boys & girls grades
5-8 from all over Oregon.
Presented by SPRD. For
additional information call
541-549-2091 or go online to
sistersshootout.com.
Wed.~Jan. 25
Sisters High School Sisters
Folk Festival Winter
Concert: Martin Sexton
7 p.m. Soulful singing and
brilliant guitar playing! For
more information or tickets
call 541-549-4979 or go to
sistersfolkfestival.org.
Sisters Fire Hall “Soup &
Civility” Event 5:30 p.m.
Enjoy a free light meal, then
from 6 to 7:30 p.m. OSU
Communications Professor
Gregg Walker will lead a
workshop on “constructive
confrontation.” For more info:
citizens4community.com.
Sunday~Jan. 15 Sisters Saloon Texas Hold
’Em Tournament! 7 p.m.
Sisters Schools Sisters
Every Wednesday! For more
Shootout Basketball
information call 541-549-7427
Tournament 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. or go to sisterssaloon.net.
For boys & girls grades
5-8 from all over Oregon.
Friday~Jan. 27
Presented by SPRD. For
Downtown Sisters 4th
additional information call
541-549-2091 or go online to Friday Art Stroll 4 to 7 p.m.
Galleries & shops of Sisters
sistersshootout.com.
feature live entertainment
& refreshments! Info:
Wed.~Jan. 18
sistersartsassociation.org.
Sisters Saloon Texas Hold
’Em Tournament! 7 p.m.
Saturday~Jan. 28
Every Wednesday! For more
information call 541-549-7427 Sisters Saloon Live Music
with the Bobby Lindstrom
or go to sisterssaloon.net.
Band 8 p.m. Blues and
Saturday~Jan. 21 rock, no cover! For info
call 541-549-7427 or go to
Cork Cellars Live Music
sisterssaloon.net.
with Mark Conklin 7 to
Cork Cellars Live Music
9 p.m. No cover! For more
information call 541-549-2675 with Cup of Joe (Joe
Leonardi) 7 to 9 p.m. No
or go to corkcellars.com.
cover! For more information
Sisters Saloon Live Music
call 541-549-2675 or go to
with Honey Don’t 8 to
corkcellars.com.
11 p.m. Americana, no cover!
For additional information call Subject to change. Submit
by 5 p.m. Fridays to
541-549-7427 or go online to
teresa@nuggetnews.com
sisterssaloon.net.