Mt. Hood Meadows / Cooper Spur Team Check-in Survey

Team Member Comment

As we move into season kicking off, I think a couple employees over the last year have made this comment with regards to the uniform policy but figured it wouldn't hurt to mention it again! During work days there are times where if you work within the MLC that you might have time (whether its 20 minutes or a few hours) to hit the mountain for a few runs before your duties. Keeping a non-uniform jacket and pair of pants with you, and having to change in and out of uniform during a work day makes it difficult to really get as much time on the mountain as possible. At another resort I worked at in the past, if you didn't get a class but were scheduled, and waiting for afternoon lineup or even before morning lineup, it was permitted to go for runs in your uniform because not only was it inconvenient to have to go back to the lockers to change (also keeping all this extra gear in your locker which is already tight hah), but also because we were "ambassadors" on the mountain. Even if you're going for a fun/wellness run, you would be there in case a guest had a question, or if there was an issue, someone was able to flag you down because they recognized the uniform.

I know I might be mentioning this more for the wellness side of things, but it definitely would be an added value to the mountain itself that if at any given time, there were more uniformed employees out on the slopes, regardless of its with or without a class. Just my two cents!

Management Response

Yes, in the past instructors were allowed to ski/ride in uniform. Skiing and riding in uniform looks much different than just free skiing – there are certain expectation that must be followed when in uniform. The requirement to ski/ride in personal apparel when not on duty came from workers compensation insurance – if you are not on official company duty and are skiing and riding in uniform, and then cause injury to yourself or others, who is liable? In my view it’s always best to be out of uniform when skiing and riding unless you are “on duty.” I agree that having uniformed staff on the hill is helpful and we do have a paid activity called “roving” that some instructors are assigned if they do not get a lesson at the normal lesson times – this is a specific opportunity to be an ambassador for Mt. Hood Meadows. If you are skiing/riding between lesson times, you do NOT need to change out of your Mt. Hood Meadows logoed uniform pants – just the jacket. Some instructors purchase a personal over coat to cover their uniform coat so they don’t need to head to their locker to change coats between lesson if they’re not teaching. In the past I have had some of these on hand for purchase ($20) as a convenience for our instructors. I’ll see about getting some more. –Tyler Barnes, Learning Center Operations Manager

Team Member Comment

Barb is the Best! We Love Her -she is doing such a great job. She really cares about our guests as well as her employees!

Management Response

Thanks for saying so, love to see the improvements at Cooper!

Team Member Comment

Being on call for the past 2 weeks makes life hard. It is especially hard To enjoy a holiday. When your anxiously waiting to see when you work

Team Member Comment

We all Love barb -she is doing a Great job.

Team Member Comment

HUGE HIGH FIVES TO CHEF MATT, AARON AND THE F&B CREW IN FRESH TRACKS! Really happy to see tasty GF bowls and made-to-order salads return. The pre-made, plastic packaged salads of yesteryear were wasteful and not very satiating so thanks for finding a solution! This is a huge improvement both on quality (my salad was tasty) and sustainability (I didn't have a pile of plastic staring back at me after my meal). Question... Would it be possible to bring in a re-usable container for salads/bowls at Fresh Tracks? Kind of like bringing in your own coffee mug to the coffee shop? I understand there might be an issue with food handling rules but it sure would be cool! I've also seen some programs like Go-Box that provide a reusable container service to participating businesses in PDX. Not sure it would work up here but it's a great concept: https://www.goboxpdx.com/ THANKS to everyone for working hard to kick the season off!

Team Member Comment

Regarding where to put the smoking area....how about on the north end of the lodge? Where it is currently is high traffic (ski patrol, medic, KIDS areas).....it seems if it were relocated to near the "pick up area" not as many folk would be impacted. Or, simply state MHM is smoke free! Other businesses have done this and still have employees working for them.