The Ski Patrol does a fantastic job. There was an incident last week, where they brought back to life a gentleman on the hill, who had suffered a heart attack. Even though they were able to get his heart started, and did a fabulous job, he ended up dying on the operating table.
No one has checked in personally with those Patrollers who were on that call. No support for the mostly rookie team, with the exception of an email from the Workplace Safety person. Meadows owes a debt of gratitude for these guys, and they deserve at the very least, a debriefing, and should be getting personal attention to see how they are processing this death.
Thank you for your comment. The patrol team has been recognized by the medical professionals with whom we work for excellent work in this difficult situation. We have received, and are immensely grateful for, kind words from family of the deceased.
Debriefs are very important and did happen in this case. It is hard to know how much feedback each individual needs or wants in these circumstances. That is why you are totally correct that personal support is critical. One-on-one check-ins from me have taken place for nearly all patrollers directly involved in this scene. I sincerely apologize for delays for some. I thank you for the reminder to continue these contacts. I also encourage everyone on the team to check in on each other.
I am concerned that this feedback comes from a place of pain and I encourage the author to find me, HR management, or engage our Employee Assistance Program. If you are a patroller, please find EAP cards on our cork board above the time clock; they are also available in the Human Resources office. Please know that any member of our patrol leadership team would appreciate your direct contact to discuss your concerns. We've all been through this before and understand to some extent the vicarious trauma that can result from fatalities on the mountain. It’s helpful to talk through the experience or the triggering effects. Telling one’s story can aide in preventing the buildup of chronic stress over time.
Our mountain that brings us so much joy, and our work that brings us so much pride, can also be a place of pain and a source of trauma. We all need help dealing with such critical incidents. Thank you for speaking up.
Our EAP is a free, confidential service available to all MHM Team and their families. Call 866-750-1327. It provides immediate counseling and referral services with mental health professionals. Provided by Reliant Health Professionals, the caring professionals on the other end of the phone are there to discuss any topic that is impacting you or your family, and provide guidance in difficult times. MHM pays for this service but does not receive any information on who engages the program. Their website has additional resources: www.myrbh.com and use the password: gomeadows
John Bain
Patrol Manager ext 1298
I spend a lot of my shifts working in Internal Communications aka Access and I really, really want to high-five all of our liftees ESPECIALLY on a day like today, 2/8 or 1/11, where the snow is coming down but that wind ....WOW....that wind today is something else. They stand out there in it all day long dealing with gate and tablet issues, having to call Access then give customers good news or bad news, and they roll with it when we have lifts that go down. I would absolutely love it, if on crazy wind days, we could do something special for them like a free lunch/dinner. I am super proud of them and how well they are doing. I really love our crew! You guys ROCK!!!
Thank you for recognizing the Lift Operations team! I also think the team work between access folks out at the lifts and the team inside has improved significantly this season providing a much better guest experience.
-Jeremy Riss
We're excited to work more with Jillianne.
I want to shout out Karen in Lift Ops for doing an incredible job managing the maze at Mount Hood Express on Super Bowl Sunday. Some of the Biggest lines I’ve ever seen and she kept it flowing.
A few requests:
Can we get a few locked drop boxes for instructor tip envelopes strategically placed at sales counters? This way guests can easily drop off tips and there are no confusion with how the envelopes are handled or delivered.
Second request: can the MLC have a music speaker for lineup? I think some tunes help put guests at ease and increase the stoke before lessons.
Thanks for being rad, everyone at Meadows.
We could look at a lock box for tips. Initially it doesn't seem that necessary because the area is staffed and the team generally puts the tip in an envelope with the instructors name on it at the time it is given. I am not aware of any tips that did not make it to the correct instructor but perhaps there is some info on that I am not aware of?
I think the music at lineup would be something to discuss with MLC supervisors. I would not be in favor of having it very loud if there was music as the primary thing that makes students comfortable from my experiences is us engaging them and talking with them about what they will experience in the lesson and forming the relationship and trust with their instructor.
- Jeremy Riss
Negativity below, sorry.... Probably not post this one....
It would be nice if the group organizer would not disappear for the day during the group leaving guest services in charge of fixing errors and problem solving.
Or if those that do fix those errors could get a pay raise for the additional job duties that would be nice too!
I hear complaints like 5 times a day or more. EX:
Not enough bathroom dryers
No change mchines for quarters, where can I get quarters?
Need sign on gate forwarning guests it doesn't work for day tickets until 9am
Need a parking sign, please stand here for HRM, other parking lots, with a number to call for questions
MT. Hood express needs a lift operator to control the lines better, lines are too slow, too long
The shuttles are too slow when is the next one?
No heater on the shuttle I shivered for 1-1/2 hours, it Hurts to breathe 2 days later because my back and ribs are still sore from shivering
Will the bus leave on time today? Where is it? Then we are suppose to leave at 5:15, why are we still waiting for people?! Can we leave on time for once.
Why does it take 45 minutes for the server to ask what you want? I habe only heard complaints about rude servers, maybe smiling and being prompt and friendly would help
I seen one not ID a guest that looked 19 years old. I thought that alone was appauling.
So many complaints . trust me the list could go on
Dispite all let's keep up the team work and all work together on these issues...
I'm sorry to see you have many frustrations. If you have some ideas on actions we should take to make improvements please reach out and let me know.
-Jeremy Riss
Jeremy.Riss@skihood.com
Thanks for supporting your employees!!
I love Meadows. I have spent so much of my life here and around this family that it is kinda hard for me to even visualize leaving. I have bounced between so many departments and i've loved every one, but this season has had the most impact on me. Right now I am getting burnt out a lot faster and its with some problems meadows can solve and some we just have to keep fighting.
For problems that we can solve: more support and recognition to the various night teams. I know we see a majority of guests during the day but there have been plenty of days this season where we have seen more guests after 3 then during the day. Thankfully our night crew across the resort is fantastic but not having as much support and recognition has been pretty consistently crushing. I know the night teams are the first to be asked to come in and do a double, but it is pulling teeth to get any team member here for a little extra time at night. Even HR doesn't even stay after 5 and that can just be sovled by switching shifts around and hiring more team members (especially year round).
What I need right now though is support. As we are hiring throughout the season and I am the only resource for my team members during the day, I am on a short leash to actually train and support my own team! My team is getting burnt out because I am not available to support them! For some I don't have time to properly train them which means I get called and pulled away more... aka not supporting my team! During the day we have multiple supervisors and multiple team members working that can be a resource for them. When my team works they have just themselves in a section most times and that sucks when you are trying to learn a new skill and job.
Overall I still love meadows. I always will. But right now I am kinda ready for a break or support so I am not running around like a mad-man.
Thanks for leaving your name, I will follow up directly with you. I think defining what the specific areas you need support in, IE what actions can your Manager take to help you and asking your Manager for that would be the best approach to gain this support.
-Jeremy Riss
I want to thank race crew recently for backing us up when asking the young racers to not sit on their poles with the tips backwards, it really helps to not tear the seats on the lifts. I also want to thank the instructors for how well they have been responding to the lift operators having to turn away their classes from advanced level lifts due to students only having progression passes. We hate to have to disrupt your lesson but it could put your student at an increased risk. Overall great week and this is a great place to work.
Great to hear positive examples of departments working together, thank you for sharing!
-Jeremy Riss
Great job by Corbin managing Snoblasters and Nolan managing the CLC! Love working with kids and I agree with Jeremy that Rafael and the coffee team are awesome.
Thank you for the positive comments!
- Jeremy Riss
"...guests can tip on a credit card. This tip amount gets added to your loyal points account as stored value that you can redeem at any point of sales at the mountain."
This is not a tip. It is illegal, and morally reprehensible, for Meadows to force employees to spend their tips back into the company. Furthermore, customers give tips with the understanding that the employee will be paid that amount in cash. It is incredibly dishonest for the company to accept tips from customers under this false pretense.
This is indeed an issue and a complicated one. You didn’t leave your name so I encourage you to follow up with Tyler, Jeremy or myself for more info. It is difficult to convey all the details in writing. Adding stored value was a band-aid solution because the ATMs were down and we did not want to impede instructors’ from receiving tips. We are working to address this. Once the ATMs are functioning this will alleviate one of the main barriers; no ETA on this, but it is in the works. We are also researching a way for a tip to be processed at a point of sale that is not stored value - we’d have to create this in-house. We also have to do this in a way that provides compliance with applying the proper tax treatment per IRS guidelines. Our intent is to support our instructors to receive tips for the great work they do in a way that complies with tax and wage rules.
- Matt Troskey, VP People