Orientation was good for the group. Thanks for the nice breakfast and lunch!
I am very concerned about sharing a locker given the amount of personal equipment needed to perform my job. It seems very disrespectful to force this on the employees.
Yes, sharing a locker this season when before you did not need to is potentially an inconvenience. Our department has grown in the past several seasons from around 250 team members to upwards of 350 currently. Unfortunately during that time we have not added any more lockers and many other departments are having to share lockers as well, sometimes more than just 2 to a locker for the departments that personal equipment is not a requirement for their jobs. Once the season is underway and if we have additional locker space we will accommodate those who are sharing to an individual locker. Please check with Jillianne Wagner after January 1 to see if we can accommodate a change for you. We are also looking at other options; in fact, when I worked at a different mountain we had equipment lockers that were shared in an outside building, and personal clothing lockers that were not shared inside the lodge – maybe this is an option in the future. In my opinion this was a bit of an inconvenience but did allow for a partial shared and an individual locker situation. We do really appreciate everyone being accommodating and willing to share lockers until we can come up with more lockers or an alternative equipment storage scenario. If you have any ideas on how we can accomplish this please share your ideas with me. BTW, Mark Fischer was reflecting on when he was a full timer instructor way back when, and he shared a locker then too. The individual locker was a luxury he never had as an instructor. – Tyler Barnes, Learning Center Operations Manager
I feel the change in the lift access control position is not a positive change. I feel you need well trained people who want to deal with the access problems right at the lift so issues can be managed efficiently. With how it’s going now the access person is calling on the radio to the lift when they see an issue on their computer in an office somewhere. By the time the lift responds, relays the message to the person at the lift with the tablet and they try to see what’s going on, the person has already loaded the lift. We are providing worse customer service and clogging up channel 1 with annoying radio traffic. The person with the radio at a lift isn’t necessarily the person with the tablet so there’s a disconnect already when the access person in an office somewhere is trying to relay something they see. These people need to be on the front line at the bottom of Mt Hood express and buttercup troubleshooting these issues in person.
There’s too much radio traffic on channel 1. How come park crew, patrol, race, grooming and parking each have their own radio channel and not lift maintenance? Today (Sunday) MHX was 10-60 and the access control person is taking up channel 1 trying to radio the ballroom carpet about some trivial pass issue.
It seems like whatever was the popular breakfast food item for employees usually gets removed from the menu the next year. Chicken fried steak was taken away and now this year the breakfast burrito is gone. But I don’t really care, I don’t buy food at the lodge anyways.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. There are other responses on the breakfast burrito issue so I’ll cover the other stuff you brought up. Access control has moved to channel 5 during day operations so hopefully that will alleviate the extra radio traffic on channel 1.
In my opinion to really take care of our guests access issues we need both a strong lift access person out at the gate as well as someone monitoring the gates remotely. There are many access issues that there is no way to solve using a tablet at the gate such as an unredeemed voucher. The only way to redeem the voucher and fix the issue is at a point of sale. So previously a guest could have paid for access for the day but ended up getting sent back to Guest Services to have the issue fixed.
What we are trying to achieve is that no guest who has paid for access for the day would ever have to go back inside to have the issue taken care of because it can be fixed remotely. It is certainly a learning process when it comes to communication and coordination to make sure the process goes smoothly but so far my belief is it has been an improvement and will only get better as we learn. I do agree with you that remote monitoring is no substitute for a strong knowledgeable team member at the gate and that both are really needed to help our guests have a seamless experience which is what we are trying to achieve.
If you are interested in discussing your observations in person, I’d definitely take you up on it as I really want this to be a positive change for everyone and I’m sure things can continue to be improved.
1st day on snow today. I didn’t work but it was good a good day back on snow.
Please note that it took 30 minutes to get lunch at Fresh Tracks and that was only after Lisa intervened and pointed out that I had been waiting too long. Also please note that my pork sandwich was delicious but dry, I think someone forgot the BBQ sauce.
Thank you so much for the comments. We were working through issues with the payment system and that was causing all sorts of issues with the tickets and orders. We do appreciate the comments regarding the food and will follow up on them. Thanks! - Mark Fellows
Cooper Spur Orientation was great! I feel excited about winter operations. I loved hearing from Jake about the Cooper land trade, and it was awesome what was done the the timber for that new parking lot. That's a great example of enriching communities.
Very cool, I can't wait to get Cooper Spur Ski Area open!
My sick time has not been accruing for some time now, any thoughts?
Thanks for leaving your name, I will follow up with the accounting team.
The job shadowing is a great idea for us rookies. Many of the veterans I spoke to had their own laminated form of critical notes ranging from the 10 codes of conduct, to the 10 radio codes, to maps that were easier to read without unfolding.
Could we, as a team, make a set of laminated cards readily available for everyone? All new hires would benefit, and many veterans had deteriorating versions. If we brainstormed, this might be a great way to update and improve everyone's quick access notes/guides. The idea of taping to ski poles was really great too, so paper copies in the "locker" building could be "laminated" just by applying box tape. This tape could also be used to attach to our ski poles. I'd be happy to bring a few rolls of this tape in for everyone to share.
Thanks Elonore and Bob for breaking me in:O
To the Mountain Safety Host comment about getting laminated paperwork with basic job information: We can provide laminates with information needed for the Safety Host job. Eventually you’ll be expected to memorize this information for fluent radio use, but if such laminates would be helpful for new hire training and self-directed retraining tools as a returning host or after a long break from service, then you got it! Please bring requests like this directly to your lead or manager (me) and we will happily meet your needs. Thanks for speaking up. - John Bain
Bring back the hoodies! The giant slalom wrap is rad.
It would be great to see some sort of custom made smoothie sheet similar to the ones you see in sandwich shops.
Thanks for the suggestions, I agree the giant slalom wrap is rad! The team in the Schuss has been killing is so far this season.
It would be nice if access liaison's could use the phone instead of the radio and if ski school could keep our snow mobile routes in the base area clear.
Access issues have moved to channel 5 during day operations so hopefully that solves the issue.