May 2006 - Posts
Hi Folks,
You beat the May challenge this weekend (4,095 total people over the three day holiday). So, Meadows will be open June 3rd and 4th (weather permitting). That will be the last weekend we’ll be open this season – we’ve got to move on to some important summer maintenance projects. We’ll go out with a bash so be sure to come for the final weekend of the mother of all seasons!
It’s been a great year any way you measure it. The season started early and strong in terms of snowfall, we had a great mid-winter (especially January) and we finished strong this spring. We received 660 inches of snow this year. The infamous volcano delivered the goods this year.
This weekend we broke the 500,000 skier visit mark for the first time in our history. Our previous record during the winter of 2003/2004 was slightly over 425,000. By way of example, we hosted more visits this year than Sun Valley, Jackson Hole, Snowbird, Alta, and Aspen Mountain. Vail and Breckenridge get up around the 1.5 million mark so we’re still considered a “mid-sized” ski resort – but we’re very happy to reach the 500K milestone.
I’d like to sincerely thank all our loyal customers for helping make this a season to remember. Meadows is dependent on your participation and I know you have choices. All of us here at Mt. Hood Meadows really appreciate your support and we look forward to serving you again during the 2006/2007 season.
A big THANK YOU goes out to the 1,000+ employees, supervisors, managers and directors that worked for Mt. Hood Meadows this winter. As I said last fall in our training meetings, this is a people business. Although we’ve got a complex collection of lifts, learning programs, parks, pipes, slopes, shopping, restaurants, buildings, equipment, machinery, etc. the most important thing is that we are a team of people taking care of the public. We have a special responsibility operating the most popular ski area on Oregon’s alpine icon. I’m very proud of your hard work, performance, and accomplishments this season. We assembled a great team this year, had a lot of fun, and I hope you seriously consider returning next season.
I’m pleased to announce the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) presented several awards to Meadows last week at their annual convention at Marco Island, Florida. NSAA is made up of approximately 350 ski areas in North America.
Here are the National Ski Areas Association awards we received last week:
• NSAA Overall Customer Service Award, “Honorable Mention” (basically second place, behind Beaver Creek Resort, Colorado) for the internally created ‘Making the Difference’ guest service training program.
• NSAA Marketing Award – “Best Program to Increase Overall Frequency of Existing Participants” – for the 3X3 Season Pass product we introduced last fall.
• NSAA Silver Eagle Award in Stakeholder Relations – for the Meadows work with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs to develop ‘exclusive use’ areas for huckleberry harvesting within the ski area permit area.
Meadows and the Hood River County Visitors Council also won the Travel Oregon Cooperative Partnership Award for the Mt. Hood Meadows / Hood River Winter Marketing Destination Program. This was presented at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Eugene, OR April 2-4, 2006.
Additionally, the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association (PNSAA) presented the “Tower of Excellence” Award to Steve Warila, Director of Mountain Operations and Planning on May 18, 2006. PNSAA represents 22 ski areas in the northwest. This award honors a ski area employee who has steadfastly contributed to the success of ski area operations over the course of a ski industry career or has demonstrated exceptional performance during a recently completed ski season. Steve has worked continuously for Meadows for 31 years and has literally been involved with or managed all major construction projects at Meadows since 1975. His position oversees lift maintenance and operations, building maintenance, construction management, ski patrol, vehicle operations and maintenance, parking, transportation, and future planning for the resort. Congratulations Steve!
Okay - enough wallowing in this sea of self-absorption Riley. The manager in me says we need to make some changes for the better. The management team will be working all summer to make that happen for you.
This won’t be the last blog. I’ll update on Friday for the weekend and will continue to post this summer. Stay connected. As always, send your comments back, we love to hear from you!
Dave Riley
General Manager
Updated May 26, 1:30 p.m.
Hi Folks,
I want to confirm with you that we will open May 27, 28, and 29.
We have a few inches of fresh snow on the ground and the forecast shows that we should get more snow tonight and even tomorrow. We’re grooming in the new right now and it’s looking great. I’m looking out the window and it’s snowing nicely as I write this blog.
The freezing level has dropped and is not supposed to rise above the base area until Monday when it’s also forecast to turn sunny. Oh yeah,, fresh snow and sun on Memorial Day at the Meadows!
We’re scheduled to operate Buttercup, Mt. Hood Express, Vista Express and Cascade Express (weather permitting) each day.
We’ll have live music on the deck both Sunday and Monday. The giant beer garden and barbeque extravaganza will be set up and waiting for you and your friends.
City Park is closed and roped off. The groomers are smashing down the large piles of snow in that area so that they melt out evenly in order to allow the native wildflowers and grasses to emerge evenly this summer. This is something my environmental friends have asked for which we are happy to do. The large snow piles up off Vista and Cascade and the Arena Superpipe will also be flattened down later in June for the same reason.
This weekend, the Vista Park will have 3 large tables, Gulch Park will have 3 large tables and Bully Park will have 5 tables and several rails. Arena Superpipe also.
The Alpenstube and Schuss will be open. The Gear Box is continuing its big sale and has some great deals on end-of-season demo gear. The South Lodge rental shop is open and the SnowSports Learning Center will have beginner packages available - sold out of the rental shop.
Given that this is a 3-day holiday, I would think we could make the 4,000 skier visit challenge this weekend so we can open June 3rd and 4th. It would be a good idea to send an email blast out to your friends or make a few calls tonight to encourage the “lazy ones” to get some more turns in this holiday! What else are they going to do – go to the movies? We really need to see at least 4,000 people show up this 3-day holiday weekend in order to justify June 3rd and 4th. It’s all up to you!
See you tomorrow morning! Post a comment to this blog - we love to hear from you!
- Dave
Hi Folks,
Due to the unfavorable weather forecast for this weekend (May 20 and 21), Mt. Hood Meadows will not be opening. We do still intend to open for the 3-day Memorial Holiday weekend (May 27, 28, and 29), weather permitting. We’re also open minded for operating the weekend of June 3rd and 4th, weather permitting.
Also, the emergency access snow bridges between the Hood River Meadows parking lot and the bottom of the Heather lift have failed and we cannot get a snowcat to that location to repair them. The route we normally drive the cat down at the bottom of HRM has insufficient snow at that low elevation. Therefore Heather Canyon is closed for the season.
I wish we had a better forecast but that’s not something any of us can control. Hopefully we’ll see you over the Memorial Holdiay! We still have lots of snow at the main base and above.
Stay in touch with a comment to the blog! Thanks for your support.
Dave
Hi Folks,
We're going to extend this never-ending season once again. The lifts will be turning May 20 and 21, weather permitting.
We came just short of the May Challenge on Mother's Day weekend (about 3,400 visitors verses the goal of 4,000) but the bean counters noodled with the numbers and tell me the Gear Box (Demo sales and soft good sales at crazy discounts), SnowSports Learning Center, Rental Shop, and the Mega Beer Garden are doing so well we're doing just fine. I'm also told that season passholders are bring non-season passholders to the Meadows which is also nice to see. Its obvious everyone is making phone calls toward the end of the week and bringing along friends to rally at the giant volcano beach.
The impression I've gotten is that many people are changing their plans around and extending their days at the Meadows this month. That's the most important thing to me. If people keep coming, I want to stay open. If people quit coming, there's no reason to stay open. Its a weekend to weekend deal. We'll know when its over - it will be obvious. I'm shooting again for 4,000 visitors next weekend. Without the Mother's Day factor next weekend it should be pretty easy.
It's really cool to see everyone enjoying what Meadows has to offer this time of year and I want to thank you for your continued support and passion! Meadows is nothing without its customers and we appreciate how you've shown strong interest in spring skiing.
Have a great week and we'll see you next weekend. Plan on bringing some friends along again! We'll be ready for you and will continue to focus on creating a great experience for each and every one of you.
Sincerely,
Dave Riley
Hi Fellow Sliders,
The weather report just keeps getting better for this coming weekend. High pressure is building. The sun, snow, and terrain are going to create an awesome alpine experience.
Looking at this weather report, I’m so glad we waived the May challenge last weekend and are opening again this weekend! Thanks for all your input and encouragement.
The crew is busy dialing in the parks and pipes as we speak. We’ll have the GIANT beer garden and BBQ all set up for the Meadows afternoon beach bash. The Gear Box has a huge sale still going with great last minute deals on demo boards as well as apparel - check it out. The Snow Sports Learning Center is still offering lessons including a deeply discounted Learn to Ski or Ride lift/lesson/rental package for those who want to try the sport for the first time. Our staff is anxious to roll out the red carpet for YOU!
Remember to call your friends and family and rally at the Meadows this weekend. It’s going to rock.
See you soon!
Dave
Hi Folks,
We’re looking forward to great skiing and snowboarding this weekend. This is such a great time of year at the Meadows.
Hopefully you all will find the time to come this weekend so we meet our May Challenge goal of 4,000 total visitors again. We're wanting to continue our weekend operation longer and longer this spring - but we need to see that you're also wanting it!
We’re going to have a great time hosting our friends on the mountain once again this weekend. I'm asking for you to please email and telephone your family and friends to arrange a gathering at the mountain for a great weekend of sliding. It will be fun. Second Season is a “social” gathering of the best people in the northwest!
Thank you for all your positive comments on the blog. It’s very helpful and informative to hear your thoughts and opinions - good, bad, or otherwise - we need to know. Have a great week and I'll see you this weekend on the slopes!
Sincerely,
Dave Riley
May 6, 2005
Hi Folks,
Well, we had 1,658 people today and the weather is calling for some rain on Sunday. We’re clearly not going to make the 4,000 people this weekend that we all were hoping for…bummer. I think the cloudy weather in the Gorge and in Portland this morning may have been less than inspirational - even though it was sunny up here. Everyone should log on and look at the webcam more often in the morning!
So, what to do? I thought it would be best to communicate this afternoon what the plan is. I’m willing to give it another try. This weekend is a “waiver” on the May Challenge.
The longer range forecast for next weekend is looking like it might be sunny. That would be good. It’s Mother’s Day on May 14th, so bring her along! Take her on a ski day to Meadows – she deserves it.
The parks and pipes are getting huge props and the F&B department has created a great scene with the Sundeck BBQ and huge beer garden.
I’ll see you next weekend. Right? Send a comment back – we love to hear from you!
Have a great week. - Dave