Ideas Lab Submissions & Responses

• MHM Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• A specific department
• Guests

People taking their dogs out will know not to stop in the middle of the Nordic trail, or at least be on the look out for nordic skiers in both directions.
People alpine and snow boarding from their last run to the HRM parking lot will be in the look out for nordic skiers (generally slower since they aren't "gravity assisted".
Nordic skiers will have .9 km of trail more safely available to them, especially those that are choosing the access trail to avoid the hazards of taking skies off to cross the access road below.

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• A specific department
• Guests

My ideas will not efficiently fit in this space. I have drawings, photos and maps to share with the right people/committee in more detail. The short answer would be to have multi season services, 3 stories, inside and outside space for eating, working on XC skis, locker room for employees, cubbies for guests, Flow through space for rentals, bathrooms, food, and retail so that areas aren't mixed up in the flow and avoid congestion. That would make a lot of happy guests and employees, and management!

• MHM Team Members
• Guests

Everyone that is able to attend will benefit from the community gathering, the inspirational messages, the knowledge gained and the opportunity to stretch and prepare physically for the day ahead. It will also set a positive vibe that people can take and build on throughout the day, as a guest and as a team member.

Those who are not able to attend will benefit from the good vibes that those in attendance will bring to the mountain and their departments. Guests are much more likely to be positive and engaged after attending this event. Everyone benefits when that happens.

• MHM Team Members
• Guests

A tasty treat to enjoy with their coffee.

Hi Lisa:
Biscotti is a great idea for the coffee bars, but we have not been able to find it from our supplier.
We will keep it in mind to add to the selection for next season.

Thanks for the suggestion!

- Mark Fellows, Director of Food & Beverage

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• A specific department
• Guests

Keeping the tools and supplies neat and clean will lead to less damage of tools and supplies in the long run as well as timing of set up and take down of lifts

That’s a great idea! We do have some storage outside the lifts currently, but I would love to hear any suggestions on how we can improve and better storage seems like a great option. I would love to follow up with you next time you are in the Lops building.

Marshal Ellison – Lift Ops Assistant Manager

• MHM Team Members
• A specific department
• Guests

Solving this issue will have multiple benefits. Easier loading of chairs. Fewer miss loads. More chairs at peak capacity and therefore shorter lift lines. Easier class management in the lift que. Increased guest confidence in our mantaince practices.

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to express these concerns. We in IT are right there with you – we hate to see those gates down for any length of time. We’ve been working through a few separate hurdles that have been impacting gate functionality this season (new team in IT, many new Lift Operators leading to umbilical/connector damage, eager guests pressing on or slamming into gates causing parts to break, etc.) but we are making good progress on alleviating these issues. Buttercup (umbilical problems) and Cascade (network bandwidth issues) have been the problem locations this season, but we are getting closer to resolving those as well. Gate issues at any other location get resolved almost immediately after being reported to us. There is definitely room for improvement through training our team, educating our guests, and ironing out processes to keep this from becoming such an issue in the future.

As of today (2/20/22), all gates are functional, scanning, and turning. Cascade may still need some additional work to get us through the season – it is being upgraded this summer – but we are doing everything we can. We appreciate your patience and understanding and apologize for the impact to the guest experience.

-- Benjamin Leland
IT Manager
Mt Hood Meadows

• A specific department

More space in the main lot to alleviate congestion issues.
An always snow free area for employees who work double shifts during storm cycles.
Less frequent closures of the main lot
An improved empty space reporting system for parking lot.

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• A specific department
• Guests

Park progression a fast way to hit multiple features in a single run

The Executive Team has reviewed the validity and financial impact of a rope tow and ruled the concept unviable and we support their decision. The amazing terrain that makes up our mountain home also proves difficult for beginners. The terrain formally known as Shipyard with its proximity to Buttercup is perfect for our MLC team to help this demographic hone their skills on our newly developed Fun Zone features. We appreciate your suggestion as well as your passion and support for freestyle terrain.

- TJ Moloney

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• Guests

Every one will benefit! Higher quality food is good for all and also good for Meadows reputation. Ski resorts are known for having terrible food, however we could wow our guests by having amazing food! We could be the talk of the Pacific Northwest! "Best ski resort food around" - National Geographic … I can see it now! What are you willing to do to make this happen? A great start would be to switch back the cheese.

HI Baylei,
Thank you for your constructive criticism of our nacho cheese sauce. And I am glad your friends are still talking about them. The only thing I changed about the sauce this season was going from green salsa in the recipe to red salsa which didn't change the flavor profile much at all. There was a period in December when our supply of the cheese we use to make it was unavailable and we did have to use another base sauce. I will make sure to double-check that our recipe is being followed though. I have only heard good comments on the nachos this season, especially from our guests.
Thank you and feel free to stop by and visit with me in Sahale anytime.

Chef Matt

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• A specific department
• Guests

Everyone on the mountain will benefit from reinforcing the safety and responsibility code in a way that makes it edgy, desirable, and memorable. More emphasis of the code will yield fewer injuries and safety incidents, resulting in a better overall experience for all mountain guests.

• MHM Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• Guests

Veterans, active duty military, patriotic folks, and flag geeks will appreciate that the very visible flag display gives the proper respect to Old Glory.

Yes, we absolutely want to proudly display our US flag correctly. We have gone by this from the US flag code:

(e) The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.

However, there is also:

(c) No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy.

We make sure the 2 US flags are the highest in relation to the others. We definitely want to do it right, and will research further for certainty and make it correct.

Kent Fellows, Facilities Director

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team

Quicker access between websites

Hi David,

This is a great idea!

I'm working with my Manager to see if we could include this in Dayforce somehow - in the meantime:

I've added a "Quick Links" menu to the header of team.skihood.com that includes: Dayforce, SnowPro Portal, Meadows website & Cooper Spur website links. I checked in with Tyler Barnes and he added the Dayforce and Team Site links to the header of the SnowPro Portal!

Thanks for your idea, please reach out if you have any issues/questions.

Happy to help,

Kenzie Schlangen
Lead HR Services Coordinator
kenzie.schlangen@skihood.com

• MHM Team Members
• Guests

A clock would benefit employee punctuality and anxiety management during breaks which would in turn help us be more able to serve our guests.
Water... do I need to explain more why having water available in the employee lounge would be beneficial?

Thanks for the input. We didn’t install water because we don’t have a drain for a sink. This summer we’re going to trench it into the concrete and install a sink and a water filter for filling water bottles. And since you made this suggestion we’ll order a clock this week! Thank you.

Kent Fellows, Facilities Director

• MHM Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• Guests

Guests would be able to win prizes by finding the geo-caches and MHM team members could monitor the caches, creating more summer time positions. The leadership of MHM would benefit by increased moral in their teams and the increase of profitability during the summer months.

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team

Every type of team member walking in the north basement and going up the north stairs will benefit from the mirrors. Everyone would be happy to avoid a potential collision with equipment over someone's shoulders. Skis stick out off the shoulders so someone is bound to hit the skis before actually realizing a human is around the corner.

• MHM Team Members

I think i summarized that already

Hi Chris,
It was our pleasure to be able to have a meal option for our MHM night team when F&B was unable to be operating at nights, but that was a temporary solution that we were able to do because we were not open to the public.
When we are open for normal operations, we do not have any team members to prepare or serve the food, as we need them in the operation. Even pre COVID staffing was always a challenge at nights (as it is in every department).
Please understand that was just nights, and every night that effectively was a catering event for 100. We could do it then as we were not in operation, but 4 team members were involved that would otherwise be working other jobs.
If we did it for nights, we would also need to do it for days…so another 500+ on a peak day. That just is not feasible.
We just don’t have the capacity or space for something like that with normal operations.

It would absolutely be great for the team, but would make it difficult to take care of our guests…we have to consider that.
And, it would always be somewhat limited…with the plan we have now, team members can go to any QSR area to get any item of their choice.

Mt. Hood Meadows continues to enhance the team shift meal program each year.
This year an extra 40% in buying power (taking the discount from 50% to 70%) was initiated and the cap was raised to $35.
Even with the higher prices, food is costing our team less than it did last year.
Formerly, the discount was 50%, and at that it was pretty much “break even” cost wise when you factor in all the costs of the food, producing the meals, the paper products, etc.
We were excited to enhance the program this year, meaning the company is now absorbing some of the cost of the meals…while at the same time substantially increasing wages resort wide as well.

As we continue to focus on our team, I would expect that the shift meal program will continue to evolve further in the coming seasons.

Thanks for the question!

- Mark Fellows, Director of Food & Beverage

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• A specific department
• Guests

I think we can all benefit from being able to better identify guests. especially in lift operations so we can more easily catch 10-34's. there needs to be away that we can get guests pictures updated.

Hi Crispy,

Thank you for your suggestion! I agree, there are many very old pictures on people’s profiles that really do need updating. Lisa and I have been brainstorming ideas to get these updated and we think we have come up with an idea to add a link to a wordpress form in their pass purchase email giving them the option to upload a new picture. This will take just a little labor checking the form and making the updates in RTP but we think it will very beneficial for all departments.

Thanks again!

Ashley

• Guests

More night skiing terrain. Ability to get to their vehicle all the way up until close. Reduce the need for guests to waste time on a lengthy shuttle bus ride.

• Guests

Happier customers. Higher customer satisfaction.

• MHM Team Members
• Guests

Enriching our guest experience and giving instructors another tool for teaching

• MHM Team Members

See more of our resort- share with guest

• MHM Team Members

Help change in and out of our uniforms. It will make that much easier and more comfortable.

Thanks for your input. We actually did have benches in the hallways to varying degrees from time to time. Unfortunately what happens is they move around and wind up blocking the hallway and numerous falls resulted. We tried to remove some and leave others, but over time it became apparent even a few get moved and block traffic and cause problems. In a power outage or if there was a fire it would be more unsafe. We could put some along the walls (fixed to the floor), but it would require removing lockers, and one of our goals is to get as many team lockers as possible.

Kent Fellows, Facilities Director

• Guests

guests using ballroom carpet would have a more natural incentive to explore and try buttercup. parents of youngsters could still watch from Sahale.
more experienced guests could have better access with less hazard to connect to other lifts.

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• Guests

Gender is a core part of how people identify themselves, especially for those that identify outside the binary having that gender recognized and accepted is important. No one wants to be misgendered. Maybe we could even include pronouns in RTP so we can address people by pronouns that fit them.

Hi Crispy,

Thank you for pointing this out. It has been a frustration for us for a few years as RTP only has two gender options built-in and there is no way for us to modify that currently. We are back on maintenance with RTP as of this season and have made the request to the Product Manager that they update the code to allow for adding additional gender options in the next release. We are hopeful that others are requesting this as well and that RTP will make the change. Unfortunately, though it is not completely in our control.

- Jeremy Riss

• MHM Team Members
• CSMR Team Members
• Leadership / Executive Team
• A specific department
• Guests

People who want to be outdoors during the Pandemic would have more options/motivation to spend their $$ at Cooper! The master minds of Cooper Spur could probably come up with a reasonable and creative way to make this into a revenue generator (sell starter/wood, rent the fire pits to guests at an hourly rate with starter/wood being self serve?). These could also be a bonus or add on for folks staying in cabins in the winter. Obviously they'd need to be stored for much of the summer due to fire danger. We put a lid on ours and use it as an outdoor side table during the summer months.

Anna,

Thank you so much for thinking about us. We really appreciate your feedback, and love seeing you at Cooper!

We are really excited we now have a gas fire pit outside in the winter! It’s new this season, another gift from MMH. During the summer we do have more outdoor fire pits for our guests to spread out a bit, however these come to us from Meadows so we have to wait until the season is over before we get them. During the winter it’s hard to add more than the one, because often times the snow is waste deep, and we struggle with a small team to keep up with snow removal as it is.

We will look into the Solo Stove that you suggested and see if they are a viable option, within permit regulations, for Cooper Spur!

Kindly,
Jillianne