FOUR-PAGE SPORTS PULLOUT INSIDE
• B SECTION • FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021
Wild winter brings
CROWDS
Etiquette is
crucial at Central
Oregon’s packed
sno-parks this
season
BY MARK MORICAL • The Bulletin
A
combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, an ample snowpack
and limited parking at Mt. Bachelor ski area has created a
crush of crowds at Central Oregon sno-parks this winter.
TRAILS
“The outdoors around here has
always been cherished, but now
more than ever, it’s intensely loved,
and it creates extreme peak use,
congestion and overflow situations
that can tend to surprise people,”
said Scott McBride, recreation man-
ager for the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger
District of the Deschutes National
Forest. “If you show up at a peak
day at a peak time, you can certainly
count on peak crowds, and poten-
tially nowhere to park at multiple
sites.”
Outdoor enthusiasts looking to
cross-country ski, snowshoe, snow-
mobile, fatbike or sled would be wise
to follow the parking rules, avoid peak
times and adhere to proper etiquette
when using the groomed trails that
emanate from the sno-parks.
Wanoga, Virginia Meissner and
Dutchman Flat sno-parks west of
Bend off Century Drive have all been
extremely busy, McBride said, as has
10-Mile Sno-park east of La Pine in
the Newberry National Volcanic Mon-
ument.
See Etiquette / B10
Outdoor enthusiasts prepare to head out on the trails at Virginia Meissner Sno-park on Saturday.
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Busy forest means busy shops
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
W
inter outdoor activities are
more popular than ever this
year in Central Oregon.
Other than skiing, snowshoeing and
cross-country are hot this year.
At Skjersaa’s, it has not been uncom-
mon for gear rentals for the two activi-
ties to sell out from time to time.
Recreation has increased through-
out the recent summer and winter
months in national forests in both Or-
egon and Washington — particularity
in the Deschutes, Mount Hood, Gif-
ford Pinchot and Mount Baker -Sno-
qualmie forests, according to Jean Nel-
son-Dean of the Deschutes National
Forest.
More people heading to the forests
has made for a busier winter at some
local outdoor rental shops keeping up
with the demand for outdoor activi-
ties.
“Some of the things that I’ve noticed
this year is that individual sports have
become more popular,” said Amanda
Brinduse, who has worked at 4 Sea-
sons Recreational Outfitters in Sunri-
ver for 13 years.
“Because we can do things individu-
ally, bike rentals were popular last year
over the summer, bike sales were really
popular, and it carried into the win-
ter seasons,” she added. “Lot of people
over winter break with their families
for ski rentals and cross-country ski
rentals.”
At Skjersaa on the east side of Bend,
Marshall Holmes says that there are
hundreds of people coming through
the shop’s doors — more so than in
previous winters — each day.
See Shops / B9