On the one hand, it seems like the season flew by, but on the other, it's been soooo loooong, too. Despite all the stoopid COVID-19 stuff we've dealt with, I'm so grateful we were able to open to give our guests and Team a beautiful place to recreate. I've had a fun season. Next winter will be here before we know it. Fingers crossed COVID is under control and we get another monster snowpack. Have a terrific summer everyone!
Thanks for being such a strong part of the team again this season! One for the books for sure! - Matt Troskey, VP People & Learning
Employee party sounds like a major buzz kill.. You don't even get a free beer after you sign your responsibility pledge?? Gee thanks for such a great season..
I'm sorry you are disappointed in the end of season party. We wanted to be able to offer something and felt focusing on the skiing / riding aspect we could do with minimal risk. Adding alcohol would make it much less likely that we could stick to social distance and mask protocols which mitigate the risk of exposure.
-Jeremy Riss
I have managed my crew well all season. Not stoked to find out I have to be at the end of season party and be the police. What a way to ruin a season that was already tough. Won't leave my name because I feel it will count against me somehow.
If you do not feel positive about helping out at the end of season party then it is probably better not to volunteer to do so. Personally I feel it is well worth my time and effort to allow our team some semblance of a celebration at the end of a difficult season.
- Jeremy Riss
Keep making those hard decisions. Keep Meadows open.
I am so grateful that we have been able to stay open and keep everyone employed. Looking at Big White, Whistler, Revelstoke, I know some of our unpopular decisions have been to avoid those scenarios. - Matt Troskey, VP People & Learning
Easy rider or daisy should be running for the people trying to ride the newly built park. It takes dollars to build a park like this and to have such a long traverse/run to get to it is not fun. All park riders want easy/daisy running because it keeps the park riders on there own lift while families and others can enjoy the runs outside of the park. If there is a park as good as they got it now on the south side then we need to accommodate for that not just "stick to what meadows has always done." In the end, when there is minimal access to the world class built park that was built by someone your paying to bring in, it is disregarding park crews hard work and is showing how again meadows is for the cash, not the people.
Employee party sounds like a major buzz kill.. You don't even get a free beer after you sign your responsibility pledge?? Gee thanks for such a great season..
I'm sorry you are disappointed in the end of season party. We wanted to be able to offer something and felt focusing on the skiing / riding aspect we could do with minimal risk. Adding alcohol would make it much less likely that we could stick to social distance and mask protocols which mitigate the risk of exposure.
-Jeremy Riss
The new additions this season have been great. A few notes I have:
1) The addition of the rubber mats in the walkway between the buildings next to the rental center was a brilliant idea. Walking with ski boots is so much safer now.
2) I realize it's hard to stay focused on the monotony of watching chairs unload on buttercup or loading on the carpet, but for the first timers on these items, I need the attendants not to get distracted training others and be there to prevent the falls boarding the carpet. And to see my signal to slow down the lift speed for my guests first dismount from their chair. When the lift opps person is looking elsewhere, the person has a frightening fall that is not necessary had the chair been slowed down.
3) I love the new food court options. However, I find the vegetarian oriental bowl very bland in flavor. Adding some sesame and/or chili oil, or Hungarian paprika would be helpful. This dish is a great idea, but needs some looking into. Leah's white food truck, by Tum a Lum Lumber in Hood River, does wonders with her vegan options. She is a great resource.
Also, each time I've had the thai chicken, the chicken was very tough and chewy. Not sure why on that one.
My daughter and I are dairy free and both are instructors. When we order a vegan burrito, it is filled primarily with rice, a few beans and nothing else. Making a full flavored vegetarian burrito is easy with the addition of lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and a pico de gallo. Two of the employees do s great job with it, but most of the time, it is bland and full of rice.
We have such great options for food now. But there is room for improvement on these items.
Thanks for caring about our opinions.
The ski racers make my life so unnecessarily more stressful and hard. I have spent the whole season getting yelled at by guests who don't want to wear masks and yet the ski racers are still the worst clientelle up here. They seem to firmly believe that they know more about the lift and lift operations than me and that I am bad at my job by not letting them break the rules. They all act like this mountain belongs to them and that I am simply their servant to serve them and do their bidding alone. Why does meadows support these people? If this behavior was coming from anyone else we would have pulled their passes and suspended them. How much money are we making off this group that we can justify the mistreatment of our team? They must be making a lot for the company to disregard their employees wellness. At the same time though, I know we are giving them a ton of free tickets which adds to their entitlement.
So which is it? Are we funding this group of guests at a financial cost to us and to the detriment of our team or is it that we are making an excessive amount of money off them that the company feels justifies the mistreatment of their employees?
I know a lot of upper management was ski racers and are biased towards this group despite their behavior. The entire group just feels like a group of bullies who are supported, encouraged and financed by Chris Kastner, Jeremy Riss, Tyler Barnes, etc.
You are correct, some of us do have a ski racing or snowboard competition background. It is also true that I do support ski racing and snowboard teams and the values it can teach athletes in all life, but not at the expense of our Mt Hood Meadows team. Competing in skiing or snowboarding can instill many great behaviors both on and off the snow which I believe it has in my life. Without racing, I may not be working in this beautiful environment we call our “Mountain Home”. It is also my honor to be supportive of you, our Team and our lift attendants who have seen some our guest’s worst behaviors this past season. I agree that there are some athletes that do not represent our sport as well as they should. They do not treat our team and the policies that you are meant to uphold with respect and dignity. I am hopeful that you see that not all athletes treat our team this way, but for the most part do follow the policies particularly this season. As a team member you should be treated with respect by any individual skiing or riding at Mt Hood Meadows, including athletes. If necessary, please keep the Meadows Code of Conduct in mind which includes asking our guests to treat each other and our team with respect and follow the instructions of our team. If someone from any group is not doing that, we should be having a conversation to remind them of that expectation and if that is not effective, we should escalate it to management/DPS. I do regret not having the opportunity to be out there with you in the trenches as I would have loved to, to help you manage such behavior. Since I work very closely with all the teams at Mt Hood Meadows, I promise that I will continue to send a message to be ambassadors of our Mountain Home. If you have any issues with any athletes I am hopefully that you will let me know as soon as you can and I will speak with the athletes and the teams they represent.
Sincerely
Chris Kastner
Director of Resort Services
Chris.kastner@skihood.com
I love my role as a host and have had nothing but great experiences working with the host leads. Lisa and Ashley have been awesome as well.
Great to hear, thank you for recognizing Lisa and Ashley!
-Jeremy Riss
Big shout out to all who made it through this most difficult year and helped make it a success. Especially those who tried as hard as they could for their employer, and didn't take undo advantage of the very generous paid time off we have been offered- unless it was truly needed. Let's put this season to bed proud of our accomplishments and making it through, but hoping next year it's different.... in a good way.