Friends of Santiam Pass Ski Lodge

10/26/2026

WEEK 21 (OCT 19-24)

Monday we took the 25 ground floor windows to Travis Starr, Riverfront Painting in Bend. These windows have been fitted and ready for 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of “Sun Dried Tomato” satin exterior paint. We are trying a new product (to us) that comes highly recommended for the harsh weather of the Pass, called “Emerald Rain Refresh Exterior Acrylic Latex Paint” by Sherwin Williams. We will see if it lives up to its reputation. We hope to have the windows installed completely by mid November.

John with Ridgeline Electric returned this week and continued to work on the exterior lights, outlets and switches of the ground floor and stone exterior.

Everyday of this week we worked on clearing the front and sides for the skid steer with the snow blower to get through. This meant bundling unused shakes to store, moving items from the container to the lodge for winter projects inside and moving large old logs, rounds and scrap wood to the parking lot. Monday afternoon 9 stumps were removed and the concrete foundation by the southwest corner door was removed and made a smaller pad for the doorway. Over the weekend we consolidated the front container and covered the log rails and posts of the front log staircase.

10/26/2026

10/26/2026

Forest Service law enforcement are seeking help from the public as they investigate the cause of the fires that started Friday, October 16th, 2026 on the slopes of Three Fingered Jack on the Detroit Ranger District. These fires have been managed together as the Summit Fire.

If you were in the area and can provide information that may be helpful to investigators, such as photos, videos or eyewitness statements, please email the Forest Service law enforcement tip line at [email protected] with details and contact information.

10/21/2026

So thankful!

10/20/2026

Week 21: October 19, 2026
This week started off with a visit from 4 Brothers Tree Service. Jack Billings, "the guy that knows a guy" contacted the owner, James Hatley and foreman Josh Roy to see if they would come out and grind the stumps in the way of the skid steer and snow blower. Josh did 9 large stumps in less than an hour.

We are just posting the process of the largest stump grinding that was right in front of the front staircase (really miss that tree) so you can see how its done. First he used a chain saw to get the stomp as low to the ground as possible to avoid tons of shavings and chips. Then the grinder does the rest of the work.

Thanks 4 Brothers Tree Service for the hard work and donating the cost to the restoration of the Lodge. If you need any stump grinding these are the people to contact.

10/20/2026

Thank you firefighters!

10/18/2026

Summit Fire Update (10-18-26):

We post this for our friends and family that do not get local updates.

10/18/2026

WEEK 20 (OCT 12-17)

This week we had the joy of our grandees visiting us for a week. Monday we all headed to the lodge and they helped us clean up the front area of the lodge before our special visitors the Chemeketans arrived: Mary Coleman, Nancy Chambers, Ann Adamcik and Elly Collier. As we were leaving we spotted Thelma the cat. She stopped and looked at us but quickly ran off, boy is she fast!!!!!! The next day we saw her again, kind of in the same area, but again she ran off. The good news is she is alive and seems to be enjoying herself.

Wednesday the bucket for the skid steer was delivered.

Thursday & Friday John with Ridgeline returned and worked on the interior electric and the exterior lights and outlets. Its getting exciting.

10/17/2026

Update: The 3 wildfires have been named: Summit Fire and has spread to 32 acres. Fire 407 remains 20 acres. Fire 409 is contained. Wind is blowing from the west to east.

We can see the helicopters and planes bringing supplies and dumping water on the fire. They are working hard to contain these fires. Located along the Santiam Lake trail.