MEADOWS BLOG

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Meadows Open June 3 and 4 (weather permitting)

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

Posted: May 29 2006, 02:53 PM by Ski2Live | with 29 comment(s)

Comments

Kris said:

Dave... Amazing, all those awards are definitely well deserved. Everything this season has been fantastic and I was kind of down in the mouth about leaving early today because of injuries aquired away from snowboarding and thinking it could have been the last day of the season, but no, you come through for me once again! Next weekend should be epic and I'll tell everyone I know to get up there and end this season Right! thanks for everything

Dave's reply: Thank you for the nice comments. I'm hoping your doing alright! Advil.
# May 29, 2006 3:38 PM

Dan R said:

What an awesome day @ Meadows today! Fingers crossed for the same thing next week!

Dave's reply: It was a fantastic day. I was pretty sure we wouldn't make the May challenge but today turned the corner as everyone decided to come - which was awesome to see.
# May 29, 2006 4:18 PM

Sarah said:

Thank you so much Dave! Today was AWESOME! I'll definately be up next weekend. I couldn't have asked for a better season!

Dave's reply: What was the single best thing about yesterday from your point-of-view? If you had the opportunity to change and improve something about yesterday, what would that be? I'd be interested in learning. Thank you!
# May 29, 2006 5:57 PM

Rosemania said:

Thanks for this wonderful season! Can't imagine snowboarding in June before! Hope it's a nice weekend to the end this season. Should we expect some exciting new plan for the summer works and 06-07 Meadows?

Dave's reply: I'll cover the summer projects in a future blog. Hoping for good weather this weekend also!
# May 29, 2006 6:06 PM

Chris King said:

Dave-

I wanted to take this opportunity, after a fabulous Memorial Day, to thank you and all your folks there at Meadows. Particularly Barbara and her crew in the Alpenstube. They did a fantastic job of making me and my kids feel at home there this year. We are as comfortable there as in our own living room. That kind of customer service is what will keep me and every skiier and rider I know coming to your resort year after year. Your competition should take a lesson! I am happy, happy to spend my money for that kind of treatment. Also, big thanks to your instructors and the whole Snow Ranger, Radio Disney program. What a joy it has been to see my kids blossom there. The whole lot of us will be back for season passes next year. Thanks again.

Best Wishes,

Chris

Dave's reply: Wow, that is so nice! I'll make sure Barb and Marsha (SnowSports Learning Center Director) get your comments. Actually, I think I'll just copy everyone on it. Its really motivating to get this kind of feedback. Thank you very much for your kind words and support. We'll see you next year!
# May 29, 2006 8:05 PM

Caleb said:

YOU DIDNT COUNT my bro and I, I BET! So there was 4,097 people! I got there way late, but we bombed and got alot of sick runs in! Thanks for staying open again next weekend!

Dave's reply: Better late than never!
# May 29, 2006 9:53 PM

David Schor said:

Today was a fantastic day at Meadows. I could tell from one look at the parking lot that we had made our goal. A big thank you to everyone who made this season possible, and thanks for believing in your customers. Good people make all the difference. See you next weekend!

Dave's reply: Our customers rock. There is sooo much positive energy at this resort these days. It's interesting how it effects our staff. They get jazzed when the customers are jazzed and vice versa. Pretty cool. Thanks for the post.
# May 29, 2006 10:10 PM

Ian said:

Hey dave,

I was up there this weekend and the park was pretty nice up on cascade. I was just wondering about what changes we should be looking forward to for next winter? If you could fill us in on what is going down up there this summer that would be really cool! See ya on the slopes in June!

Dave's reply: That will be covered in a future blog. We're still working out some details. No new chairlifts this summer though. Thanks for the question.
# May 29, 2006 10:35 PM

Dave G said:

Congratulations on all the (well-deserved) awards, and the record-setting season! Great to see such a remarkable turn-around after such a dismal snow season the year prior.

Just setting new benchmarks to break next season!

Is it too early to pray for snow for next season?!

Dave's reply: Thanks for the comment. I'm already praying for a big late October snowstorm. One year we opened on October 21st. That was awesome!
# May 29, 2006 11:09 PM

Scott Mitchell said:

Hey Dave...took off work(sort of) to come up today....so glad I did...it was a great way to close out my season this year. The pipe was spectacular and kudos to the grooming and park crew...everything was terrific today! I am one of your instructors and I can say this has been one of the most rewarding endeavors I have ever been involved with. What a great group of people.....everyone here is just the best and I am already marking my calendar; crossing off the days untill next season to rejoin my comrades up there..thanks for everything you have done and everyone else up there to make this such a great place to work....also thanks to all the great customers for providing the demand so we all have such a great place to work.....cant wait to see you all next year!!!!

Have a safe and fun summer!
Scott

Dave's reply: One of the benefits of closing late is that it compresses the length of summer. 06/07 will come shortly! Have a great summer Scott, see you next year.
# May 30, 2006 3:51 AM

LeAnn said:

Dave –
As said MANY times through the blogs this year. Thanks for all your efforts to improve customer relations this season. It truly seemed to help! The beginning of the season was rough but you guys really pulled through in the end.

Thanks to your staff for all the added effort. It has to be hard on employment options for seasonal workers when the season never seems to end. There is a bonus...but hard to find a job to fill in between ski seasons when it goes this late. So an added thank you to all of them. My daughter and I spent countless hours in the lodge this season and always seemed to have really good service even at the end.

I doubt I will be able to make it up for the blow out so have a drink or two for me! But, be safe on your way home!

This weekend was AWESOME up there. This was the first time I have been able to snowboard on Mothers Day AND my birthday; both are in May. It was sweet! Sky’s were blue and spirits were high. I was concerned yesterday morning when we arrived but when we left and the lot was full I knew we made it! This should give you a good vibe for future challenges now that you know we can and will do it if we say we will. Please come out in force next weekend for all that can just to reinforce our voice!

Have a great off-season and I look forward to future blogs with maybe some info about next years pricing and closures?? :-)

Dave's reply: Thanks for recognizing the staff for hanging in there. They've been great.
# May 30, 2006 8:39 AM

Rod said:

Thanks for staying open. Sounds like we should have come Monday instead of Sunday. I'm glad enough people showed up. I think you are doing a good job of getting the spring thing going. As a former Summit County resident, I always enjoyed spring at the Basin. I think people here will start to get more interested every year. I'm glad you are trying to get the same thing going on Mt. Hood. Also, I wanted to give some feedback on one of the lifties. "Shades" or Lacey has been awesome this year. She's always got a big smile and good attitude. Please let her boss know what a good job she does. See you next weekend.

Dave's reply: Thanks for your posting and thoughts. I'm thinking that the May Challenge worked because it created a partnership. The skiers/riders/Meadows were all in it together to make it work. Thanks for being a part of that! Also, thanks for mentioning Lacy. Her attitude is fantastic and she's always got a big spring in her step and huge smile. If I could only clone her :)
# May 30, 2006 9:14 AM

Alex Ing said:

the mountain was so sick bro. there were so many people and we had a bunch of jerseys and sweatshirts and the park was sick and everything was dope!

Dave's reply: I can't possibly top that one - glad you had a good time!
# May 30, 2006 12:33 PM

clooi said:

Dave,

This winter I put together a map of MHM from satellite photographs and annotated all of the trails. It is really quite detailed and scale accurate. I asked a friend who works as a voluteer ski patrol to work with Mel to put down all the ski patrol names of places and runs also. The map is quite awesome and prints quite nicely at 3'x4'.
My friend is supposed to have printed a version out for the ski patrol hut. Apparently they had been looking for a better map.
Anyway, if you are interested, I could send you a jpeg version but it is several megabytes in size. It is originally put together using Microsoft Visio and if you guys run that, I can send you the .vsd file too. You may find it to be a great poster for your office(s) or may even find it useful for planning or marketing.
Anyway, if you're interested, you'll have to send me an email address that can handle several MB. Or I could cut a CD and mail it to you.

Colin

Dave's reply: That sounds like an interesting project. I'd be interested in seeing it. If you would like to send me a private email (rather than posting feedback to the entire blog) you can do so by clicking on the Email link in the menu bar on the left side of the blog screen. This will take you to a web form that you can fill out to send me a message.


# May 30, 2006 3:02 PM

Andrew said:

Skiing was awesome this weekend I went saturday. I'm excited about next season and what changes will come over the summer. Just for next spring what is the best wax to get because my skis and friends board were both sticking near the bottom. Thanks for all the staff. Are there going to be any big changes this summer? Or are they just going to be little just wondering because ill be coming alot next year once I buy my first season pass!!!!! Thanks alot

Dave's reply: I'll get the wax answer for you later this week. No huge changes like new chairlifts but I'll put out a blog later that outlines what will be new and different. Thanks for your support.
# May 30, 2006 4:24 PM

Bill H said:

Went the whole weekend. Had an awesome time all three days. Will be there if you are open this coming weekend. I don't care if it rains.

Dave's reply: Good Oregonian!
# May 30, 2006 5:07 PM

Bill said:

Great season so far! I can't believe that we'll be sliding in June.

You and your staff have all been amazing - I've never seen the sense of excitement and community at Meadows that I experienced this year. Major kudos to your staff - they got to be a little like family. My family and I are very satisfied customers already looking forward to another kick butt year in '06-'07.

PS: consider adding a "skier counter" on your web page next year so we can cheer you on to breaking this year's attendance record. Also, you should put the link to snow-forecast on your front page since it's always better at predicting the weather than NOAA.

Dave's reply: Thanks for the compliments. I'll pass them along to the team today. When it comes to weather forecasting, I like www.ocs.orst.edu best.
# May 30, 2006 9:59 PM

nick cooper (family pass holder) said:

The family and I want to thank you for a long and fantastic season. Spring skiing for us is as much fun as powder in Jan. See you all Sat. and Sun. for Last Day.

Dave's reply: Thank you!
# May 30, 2006 10:06 PM

Jason said:

This has been one hell of a season! This is has been my first season ever on the snow. After about 5 years here in Oregon now I finally had the money and a great snow season to get started up with snowboarding. Being an old school surfer/skateboarder, I picked up snowboarding relatively quickly. I even did a black diamond run this season and am now trying to work on my jumps(though I have yet to land them). Your grooming and park teams did a awesome job this year. The runs were usually in great, if not good, condition and the smaller park jumps and mini-pipe were perfect for me in getting the freestyle part of me out on the slopes. I am looking forward to getting a season pass for next year and hopefully even buying me a whole new board setup now that I know I am addicted to the sport.

Once again, thank you to you and your staff and also to the snow gods for making this one awesome season! See you all next year!

Dave's reply: Welcome to the life-long sport of snowboarding!
# May 31, 2006 9:21 AM

Tom Houha said:

Hi Dave

My 12 year old son Elliott and I went skiing at Meadows a while back and he lost his Ipod somewhere on the mountain. I left a message at the lost and found number (ext 200) and had zero expectation of any good news. But amazingly someone turned it in! It is being mailed to us today.

I just want to say that every employee I spoke with about it (Carolin, Teressa, Jessica & Eric) have been super nice, friendly and on-top-of-it.

My appreciation also goes to the mystery person who turned it in (another meadows employee perhaps).

I also have noticed that the lift operatos have seemd extra up-beat & friendly each time I've been up skiing.

Whatever you're doing to these people - KEEP DOING IT! It's working.

Thanks

Tom Houha

Dave's reply: That's a great story Tom. I'm glad someone was honest enough to turn the Ipod in. Also, thanks for the compliments to the Lift Operations Department. I am very proud of them.
# May 31, 2006 12:13 PM

OK I'm a liar said:

When hearing the news that Heather Canyon was going to be closed I responded by saying I was done for the year. Call me a big fat ugly liar.

I hit the slopes on Monday and as you know, it was fantastic!

Congratulations on a great year. I appreciate you communicating to your customers and look forward to another great year in 2006-2007.

Dave's reply: That's funny. Heather Canyon is sooo important to a huge number of people so it comes as no surprise. Glad you discovered the other areas though!
# May 31, 2006 1:26 PM

Erik said:

I really cannot explain this season in words, the closest i can come is just flat out amazing. I gotta say you cand your staff up there at meadows really know how to run a ski resort. Great grooming great runs great parks, everything up there is great. Think your gonna have another park over there on HRM next year? Thats was my favorite place to ride this year, I loved the park, and the freerinding over there was epic.

Dave's reply: Thanks for the positive feedback! I'll make sure the staff gets a copy of this.
# May 31, 2006 3:20 PM

TADO said:

Snowboarding at Shreadows was FUN! Now go surf! Sharks bite,but so do bears!
# May 31, 2006 3:47 PM

the whiteds said:

the management has really come around. the staff has been incredibly helpful, courteous and friendly - leaving such a positive impression of a wonderful season.
we'll be back!

Dave's reply: Thank you for the nice compliments. We're not going to sit back though. We learned so much this year. The plan is to continue the things that went right but continue to make changes to make the experience for our guests and employees even better next year.
# June 1, 2006 11:03 AM

Deborah said:

Dear Dave,
Hats off for a magnificent customer relations effort this season! Your blog is a terrific initiative, and you've been both informative & responsive. Best of all, you listened to the groundswell of skiers & riders who yearned for a longer season. It's been *fantastic*. The 4K/weekend challenge was a great marketing strategy. (A few years ago, Meadows was open the entire month of May, with a $60 May pass-- which I took full advantage of. That would be even better...!)

I had a grand day skiing Sat. May 26-- a little new snow, reasonably cool temps, some sensational corn on Cascade. A special gold star to Ivy, working the lunch counter. What a jewel! Her extra efforts were stellar.
And the grooming crew is doing a terrific job.

Keep up the good work!

Dave's reply: Positive feedback like that is so motivating for everyone who works at Mt. Hood Meadows. We feel great about how everything came together this season. Yet, as I mentioned in another blog reply, we're aware of several things that we can and will improve upon. We've had several planning meetings this spring and have more scheduled this summer. I'll be posting more blogs this summer to communicate what we're working on and asking for feedback from our customers. Thanks for your support - stay connected this summer!
# June 2, 2006 1:28 AM

litos said:

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