The story of Willamette Pass is not just about one ski area trying to survive climate change and legal headwinds. It’s about what happens when a community decides that access to the mountains is worth fighting for.

It’s a Friday afternoon in February, and our NWAC weather forecasts come bearing good news. A forecast of several new inches of snowfall means the group text is popping off with weekend plans and ecstatic friends.

I took a look at the weather for the next few days. 4-6” on Wednesday, over 12” that night. Very quickly, the powder flu took hold.

It wasn’t until January that the temperatures began to drop and the weather radars started to pick up a large storm system heading south towards Oregon. The snow estimates got bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Then, it happened.