Team Newsletter 04.15.25
Table of Contents
Spring Event Schedule
The Last Blue-Rah: April 19th
Suits and Boots: April 26th
End of Season Rail Jam: April 26th
Double Mountain Pond Skim – May 3rd
End of Season Party – May 4th (Details below)
End of Season Party!
Sunday, May 4th, 2024: 9:45am – 2:30pm
- Busses Arrive @ 9:45
- 9:45-10:15 – Rental Checkout
- 10am – 1pm – Lifts (Buttercup and MHX)
- 11:30- 1:30 – Lunch / Bar
- Buffet in Schuss Cafeteria Area, beer/wine carts (outside if weather cooperates!)
- Last call @ 1:30
- Buffet in Schuss Cafeteria Area, beer/wine carts (outside if weather cooperates!)
- 11-1:30 – Live DJ
- 12:45-1:15 – Rental Return
- 1:30 – Raffle
- 2:30 pm – Busses Depart
Invited: Active team members, Resigned w Notice or Laid Off Eligible for Rehire team members, Volunteer Patrollers, Clinic Staff, and their dependents. MHM team members may bring their dependents OR a plus 1. Conditional or Ineligible for Rehire team members may not attend, even as a plus 1.
Important Notice - HR Office Hours
As we approach our final laps of what’s been an incredible 24/25 season (460 inches of snowfall!) we start to see changes around the resort. One of these changes will be the HR office hours.
On the days that lifts aren’t spinning, 4/21 – 4/24, and 4/28-5/1, our office hours will be 8 am – 4 pm. On days that the resort is operating, our hours will remain unchanged, 7 am – 5 pm.
Important Notice - Spring Bus Schedule
As the season comes to a close, please take notice of the bus schedule in the upcoming weeks.
Effective 4/19/2025, the weekend Hood River early bus will no longer operate. All buses will arrive at 7 am on weekends.
As a reminder there will be no team member transportation on non-operating days, 4/21 – 4/24 and 4/28 – 5/1.
There will be team member buses for the team member appreciation and ride day on 5/4! Remember: Dependents and non-team members are not permitted to ride team member buses.
April Toyota Stoke Winners!
We are excited to recognize Hannah Sebring, the Nordic and Snowshoe Program Manager for her efforts building the Nordic and Snowshoe community through record Nordic visitation and pass sales this season, diversification of our Nordic Beginner products, and her commitment to enhancing the Nordic and Snowshoe guest experience. While it’s bittersweet that this recognition comes at the end of the Nordic season, we want to recognize her accomplishments, nonetheless. Thank you, Hannah, for creating Nordic stoke this season.
~Greg Pack
Please join me in recognizing Micaela Houston, Lift Operations Dispatch Supervisor, as our second Stoke Vehicle winner this month. Micaela and her team of dispatchers keep the mountain communications humming from 7am until the last crews are clear of the hill after closing. She facilitates positive and productive mountain operations communications and keeps our mountain teams on track to achieve timely openings and efficient closings. Micaela is invaluable to mountain operations leadership, handling not only the communications, website updates, dispatch documentation, and lift statistics but reviewing all lift logs and pre-op paperwork and tracking down missing information.
Mic, we’d be in chaos without you. Thank you!
~Mel Toney
End of Season Awards - MLC
Alpine Instructor of the Year:
David Rosenthal
Runner Up:
Kevin Williamson
Snowboard Instructor of the Year:
CJ Hayes
Runner Up:
Jennifer Kahler
Adaptive Instructor of the Year:
David ‘D Mack’ Mackintosh
Runner Up:
Mike ‘Nacho’ Scogna
Part Time Instructor of the Year:
Sonja Kolstoe
Runner Up:
Chris Moag
Kids Instructor of the Year:
Ashlee Ducharme
Runner Up:
John Mahoney
Rookie Instructor of the Year:
Connor Arnell
Runner Up:
Dakota Massucco
Best Supporting Role/ Lead of the Year: Zach Draper – Runner Up: Greg Rutz
Nordic Instructor of the Year: Keith Mussallem
Nordic and Snowshoe MVP: Caden Clark
Alpine Trainer of the Year: Alex Danilevsky
Snowboard Trainer of the Year: Kaitlin Brotemarkle
Guest Choice of the Year: Kent Nelson
Co-Worker of the Year – Daniel Wild
Ski Patrol - Peers Recognizing Peers
Our first-class Ski Patrol team recognizes members each month for exceptional performance through peer nominations. The folks below have been honored for their excellence by their fellow patrollers, but not yet the resort as a whole. Take a moment to thank the next patroller you see for all they do throughout the season to keep the mountain open for our enjoyment.
Kelci and the rest of the Team, thank you for all that you do!
December:
Patroller of the Month: Allison Noble
Rookie: Paige Tarleton
Host: Dan Platt
January:
Patroller of the Month: David O’Hara
Rookie: Fits Elder
Host: Tele Dave Silberstein
February:
Patroller of the Month: Andreas DeGraeve
Rookie: Gabby Chalich
Host: Kathleen Priest
March:
Patroller of the Month: Johnathan Bertagna
Rookie: Bryce Hardin
Host: Bill Simonds
100 Best Green Workplaces in Oregon
Just in time for official Earth Day (April 22nd), we are proud to share that we have been named one of the 2025 100 Best Green Workplaces in Oregon by Oregon Business.
The annual green survey was part of the 100 Best Companies surveys conducted last fall. If you were actively working then, you were invited to participate.
This ranking shows that our workplace has implemented a variety of green policies, and that you, our team, place a high value on sustainable practices and believe our commitment to them is exceptional.
We also ranked #33 in the 2025 100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon – Oregon Business
We will share our Best Green Workplaces ranking once it has been announced.
Thank you for recognizing that our company and our team is taking meaningful actions to be a sustainable business and a great company to work for. It’s because of our team first approach, and commitment to respecting our mountain home.
Thanks to our dedicated team of sustainability minded members (MCSAT- Meadows Cooper Sustainability Action Team) for keeping us headed in the right direction with our efforts.
The End of an Era
Once upon a time you dressed so fine, threw the (ski) bums a dime in your prime, but after more than 55 years (and countless windy storm days!), the time has come for our beloved Blue Chair to ride off into the sunset for a much deserved retirement.
Constructed in 1967, and in service since our inaugural 1968 season, the iconic Blue Chair has largely been out of the limelight as a mostly unused lift for the last couple of decades. It often sat idly, only to be called into action when winds were strong, and conditions were ripe. While it could sometimes be unsettling you would just have to remind yourself, well it’s alright, riding around in the breeze and it’s alright if you live the life you please and get to ride this old lift during one of Mt Hood Meadows’ infamous storm days.
Join us for The Last Blue-Rah on Saturday, April 19th to bid farewell to this Blue Beauty (preferably in your most vintage ski gear) before it is decommissioned this summer.
Spring Shirts Have Arrived!
They’re Here!
This years spring shirts have been delivered and they certainly don’t disappoint!
Swing by Uniforms to pick up yours today!
Spring shirts are free for qualifying individuals and $13 for everybody else, friends and family included!
A Reminder on Safety
Are you staying on with us past the end of winter season? Whether you’re here full-time or for summer seasonal work, routines change when the snow goes away. Your work team and reporting structure may look different. What you do every day may be entirely different. People you trusted for direction in winter may not be around.
Now’s the time to SLOW DOWN a little and let your brain and body catch up with changes in terrain and job duties. When swapping ski poles for a pole saw or parking your sled to grab an angle grinder, please approach new tools and situations with care. Uncertainty is your cue to speak up and ask questions. Do you know how much clearance a tool’s guards should have, what PPE you need, the ergonomically safest way to proceed? Make sure you’re going to Do It Right before Trying to Do It!
Thanks!
Lyric Winners
I’m getting close, but haven’t ran out of idea’s yet! Get a little recognition, have some fun, and find the lyrics and join the list of wonderful people below that said or sang the lyrics this week!
Rob Vogel – HR Generalist
Lisa Cordie – Director of Guest Services
Jonathan Manera – Rental Technician
David Miller – Alpine Instructor
Peter Gallati – MLC
Tori Lehman – Bartender
Mike Blawn – DPS/Caretaker
Sustainability Challenge
Tired of skiing past that rogue granola bar wrapper like it’s none of your business? Rebellious Red Bull cans get you down? Feeling for that lost left glove living a lonely existence in the wild without its right-hand man?
Turn that trash into treasure by entering the sustainability raffle!
Simply collect the trash, take a picture, then send to green@skihood.com to be entered in the drawing.
From April 18th-April 26th, you will earn a raffle ticket for every 5 pieces picked up (ten entries max), plus a bonus entry for the individual that collects the most total pieces!
Help clean up the resort (and national forest), while competing with your friends and fellow team members.
Here’s your shot to end the season on a high note and be a garbage-grabbing legend!
Remember not all hero’s wear capes—some carry garbage bags.
Columbia Employee Store Pass
