1. EV's for Public Safety, transfer buses and vans, ATV's and snowmobiles
2. Lunch chit and/or summer lift ticket for anybody who works with a cleanup trail crew 4 hours
3. Local artist paint mural on the inside wall in full view as you unload the upper Cascade terminal
4. Revisit the vomit-colored pinkish purple color scheme of our terrain parks because it is depressing
4. I apologize for being too candid about my personal reaction
5. Materials, tools and training for Ski Patrol and Facilities Maintenance sign shop in the woodshop at the bottom of Daisy
Thank you for your suggestions!
-Jeremy Riss
I appreciate the Covid Response Team staying up to date and issuing the new mask(less) guidance so quickly!
Agreed, the team has been very responsive and it is great to start to have some restrictions lifted and see people's faces in person again.
-Jeremy Riss
Maybe you should consider kicking us out for a week every year they are all difficult
The week of was awesome for many folks and I'm sure we'll continue to evaluate what we can do in future years.
-Jeremy Riss
I am so glad I work for a company that values it's employees. The wellness week was another example of some of the great things Meadows does for it's employees. Hoping for more "wellness time" in future seasons.
Thanks again!!
Agreed, it was awesome to have almost everyone taking the same week off.
-Jeremy Riss
This has been a difficult season for everyone for a multitude of different reasons, one thing I did not hear a lot of talk about this year was the perpetual stoke model. Not only did this not seem to be such an important concept this season but was one that despite believing in firmly I felt was nearly impossible to actually see be actualized or buy into personally.
This season I started out fighting for ways to progress in my supervisory role after having completed my wage matrix in my first season as a supervisor. This was met with a complete lack of action on anyone's part who could make changes, despite several meetings and conversations. I was not arguing solely for a wage increase but for an opportunity to develop my skills to further benefit the company and my department. Again so little came out of these meetings I felt (and still do) like upper management does not actually want to see me succeed and is happy to let me be a busy little worker bee with little incentive to progress.
When our employees were dealing with a difficult winter break and their meal discount was increased what did supervisors receive? Nothing. We kept our 70% discount and did not receive any sort of thank you for the work we had put in all break with mask mandates etc. This felt like we as supervisors were in some limbo. We are expected to perform at a higher standard and lead our employees but are usually left out of any major discussions regarding changes or operations. It does not feel like we as supervisors are any different from any other non management employee except for a higher food discount (although apparently only sometimes) and a higher wage with significantly higher levels of responsibility. I have seen tons of employee appreciation but that rarely seems to reach the supervisor level.
Another major issue that I have had this season (and last) is the lack of Human Resources support after 3pm. I understand that the department is small but the fact of the matter is if we do not have a single HR representative available during ALL hours employees are on site than we are not doing our best and not supporting our employees equally. I have personally needed HR support during my regular scheduled shift and been unable to reach anyone. I know we have had other employees who had an HR representative been available would have much rather gone and spoken to them than to me but because they know HR is unavailable they turn to me instead. I am not getting paid to do HR's job nor do I have the proper training to accurately and successfully help our employees in every circumstance it has been necessary for me to fill in. I have been told this issue is being worked on but would like to hear what exact plans are in place to fix this besides saying "call, email or use the chat function on the team site" which does not yield timely results after 3pm.
This season has not left me stoked and has continuously been a challenge to bring what little stoke I have left to work everyday. I do not know If I want to return next season but I sincerely hope if I do I am able to see and find the stoke that I know exists at this resort.
Thank you for giving us a place to voice these concerns but please post EVERY comment submitted. I have seen several of my comments not be posted and it makes me wonder are there other opinions and comments being submitted that are not being posted too? If so why?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and leaving your name. I will reach out to you personally on some of your concerns. Regarding what comments we post you can find a little more information about the survey here: https://team.skihood.com/about-team-survey/.
In particular this quote "On occasion there are comments which are specifically negative about an individual or extremely derogatory, those comments will not get posted. Responses to this survey are anonymous unless you choose to leave your name. It is much more likely that we be able to follow up and take action if you do leave your name, as often times more information on the situation is needed."
If your comment didn't get posted it is likely for one of these reasons unless I made a mistake which certainly could have happened. If anyone has a question about a comment they made that did not get posted please feel free to reach out to me. There have generally been very few comments that have not been posted.
I know I have heard from a few others who look at the front line team receiving a temporary increase in the meal cap and think how come I'm also not getting something extra. Opinions may differ but In my opinion as leaders we should not always expect to get an extra benefit every time we might give extra recognition to our team. We should instead be excited we are able to give an extra benefit to those who normally get less meal benefits and do not make as much money. Some of the best leaders I have worked with are often willing to take less benefits or pay themselves in order to give more to the team that works for them.
As I mentioned I will reach out to you directly on some of your concerns, thank you for leaving your name.
-Jeremy Riss
To my management team, my fellow instructors, and all the supporting team members at Meadows, thanks for a great season! As an instructor here at Meadows, I have found this to be the most gratifying and most fun job I have ever had! And I have held many jobs, starting when I was a kid working in my dads radio and TV repair shop, to being a GM dealership mechanic, to being a project engineer/ manager. in the pulp and paper industry to being a small business owner. Don't get me wrong starting up a $500M pulp and paper mill and seeing the new paper machine make a saleable finished product at the end of a long project is very satisfying to say the least, Owning my own business is satisfying as well. But when I see my students progress,, the smiles on their faces when that light bulb moment happens, and when I get letters from the kids I taught this year. To me that's really is the cats meow! And to top it off I get paid to have this much fun and I get tips as well!! Life is good!
I'm stoked the job has been so rewarding for you! Helping others to enjoy themselves more is always very rewarding in my opinion.
-Jeremy Riss
A chair at the bottom of Ballroom Carpet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For real, as the OIC there this whole season, I found that when we experimented with it, it enabled us to constantly by looking up lift line, which reduced reaction times, increased responsiveness when guests might stumble or fall, and better enabled prevention of injury. All of which reduces risk, and lowers chances of incidents and reduces potential points of liability. I do understand there's a "visual" stigma associated with sitting, however statistically, the Carpet is one of the most dangerous lifts, and anything that increases potential safety is a good thing IMO. As someone who's worked on that lift for probably hundreds of hours, I realize this measure seems counterintuitive at first, but hundreds of hours of experience on that lift has taught me that the benefits far outweigh any negative stigma, and it really does deliver a net gain in terms of safety,
Also: just an observation... Ski Patrol was often grumpy all season. Oftentimes I'd go out of my way to say hi to them or be friendly and they'd be kinda grumpy back. Idk if they just need a teddy bear or chocolate or something but like maybe give them some love and tell them Lift Ops loves them, and IDK, feed them or something? Maybe their blood sugar is low. Anyway give them some love! <3
Thanks for your suggestion, I'm sure the Lift Ops leadership team will review.
-Jeremy Riss
Been one hell of a tough season.
Suggestions regarding the summer trail map. The trails and terrain contours against a satellite image are extremely difficult to see. My suggestion are:
-Ditch the satellite image all together and go all out topo maps. Wooded areas in green, meadows in white, with easy to read terrain contours.
-dotted black trail instead of the continuous line.
If you guys really really want to keep that satellite image, at least change the color of the trail to make it more visible such as an orange color. And mark the timberline trail out in red.
And thank you for a full season! Pretty satisfying not having to close early!
Thanks for you suggestion on the map and stoked we made it through the full season as well!
-Jeremy Riss
Great season...ending too early. Thanks for the great times!!