Meadows Blog

8 Comments

1. Nooch

   November 18, 2009

   What time do the movies start on Saturday for that Hood River show? Also any word on Cascade? If we get a good sunny/non windy day any chance we are getting up into some of that terrain? Looks real enticing from lower on the mountain...
   
   Meadows: Movies will start pretty early - 5:30 - 6:00 or so since four will be shown throughout the evening. We'll roll Cascade as soon as there's good coverage. Watch the wind - the terrain is prone to scouring (see the top of Vista Cam for example)

2. jsoul

   November 18, 2009

   Question about your "current conditions" vs NWAC telemetry....does Meadows have its own weather station or are you reporting current conditions from the NWAC stations?
   It seems like the "current conditions" as they appear on the website cherry pick the best conditions on the mountain and aren't necessarily a snapshot of the conditions at any one place on the mountain (i.e. yesterday the temps reported seemed to be from the 6600ft level while the winds reported seemed to be from lodge level). I realize that you are trying to put the best conditions forward in order to get people up on the mountain, but it seems disingenuous to display data from different points on the mountain without making this evident. On variable days like yesterday and Monday where it may be snowing up on cascade but is raining at the lodge (and the cascade lift will not be open) you are basically lying to your customers by stating the current temperature from somewhere on the mountain that they are unable to reach.
   It would be great to have a footnote letting us know where on the mountain these observations were taken, or even better, separate conditions reports for different parts of the mountain (like you have for base snow amounts).
   
   Meadows: We have two telemetry stations - one at the top of Mt. Hood Express and one at the bottom of Mt. Hood Express. Both are NWAC stations. The one at the top has been upgraded to report conditions every minute. The one at the bottom updates hourly but is in the process of being updated. We're presenting station conditions "real time" at the top of Express, and will do the same once the bottom station has been upgraded.
   Frankly, our reports have been very accurate, saying rain when it is raining and giving a wide range of variable conditions. We will continue to do so and the added real time telemetry readings from the area will certainly help.

3. Jasmine

   November 18, 2009

   You guys have such an awesome blog and communication with your skiiers and boarders! I love waking up in the morning and being able to get such a comprehensive overview of the mountain-- kudos to you, other resorts don't offer this much transparency!

4. DeLa

   November 19, 2009

   Any way we can get lines that don't merge back? Not really feeling that personally.... Constantly jockeying for position so as not to get screwed. I know I'm not alone on this from the comments I heard.
   
   Meadows: We're trying the new lift line set up based on strong input we have received from other guests who have seen it work well at other resorts. The idea is to give the attendants more time to scan tickets and chat with the guests, less yelling to control the lines. We are hoping that as everyone gets used to taking turns it will work out, similar to taking turns at the stop sign when driving. We are open to considering other ideas, but would like to give this one a try for at least a few weeks to see if it works better than the old design.

5. ken

   November 20, 2009

   I have to second that the merge lines do not work. Last saturday 11-14-09 you set up lines that merge. I have never see you do this before. I was in line at 8:30 as normal on a powder day. You had four lines on the north side of the maze. Three of the lines merged together one did not. The one that did not merge moved as normal the lines that merged bottle necked. We were passed by people who got in line after you opened the lift at 9 am. Your guests were getting upset. The people who had been waiting in line for a half an hour had nicely grouped into groups of four. We were now stepping on each others skis trying to regroup.
   When I got my pass photo taken at the Hood River high school one of your members of management had said you were working on improvements in your scanners and were going to do something different with your maze set up to improve flow and scanning. This is not an improvement. How about making 2 longer lines that do not merge. This will cut down on the walking back and forth that the scanner has to do. Better yet get rid of the scanners. They offer very little service to your guest. The are a marketing tool. Yes you can turn off someones pass to notify them of something but your led sign can do that too. And yes you can tell what lift someone rode last if they go missing. But other than that they hold up the line and create hassle for the purpose of gathering marketing data. If you watch the lift and the person scanning you can see that the lift can move 4 people faster than a person can scan 4 passes. So you got great fast lifts and low speed scanners.
   How about putting the people that scan passes at the entrance to the maze. This will eliminate the shuffle of people having to pull out their pass as they get on the lift. Scanning people as they get in line will allow then to group up with their friends outside the line and allow things to move smoothly once they are in line.
   
   Thanks for listening
   
   Meadows: Thanks Ken. We're trying different maze allignments to see which will work the best here at Meadows. Also consider that we don't have the snow depth for us to deploy the allignments we're considering and we expect this will improve as we have more snow to increase the maze footprint. Your observations and constructive criticisms are helpful and appreciated.
   I have to disagree with your assessment of scanning, though. The scanning system has improved significantly over last season because of the changes in ticket stock, pass media, scanner program upgrades and redesign of the ticket and pass to make the barcode larger. We have also seen more cooperation from guests who have their tickets and passes ready to scan which really helps speed up the process.
   We will continue to make adjustments so we can keep the lines moving as efficiently (and fairly) as possible.

6. J.D.

   November 21, 2009

   I think the lift line management is a huge improvement. For years I have stood in long lines watching chair after chair go up with 3 or 2 people on it with a lot of frustration. While waiting in line is part of the day (at least on the weekends), nothing is more frustrating than watching empty seats head up the mountain. The new system seems to allow the skiers to consistently load 4 almost everytime . Please DON'T change it. Also, a big shout out to the lift operators as they have been great this year. The scanners are also much better/faster this year.
   
   My only suggestion for an improvement, would be in your communication of what is open or approximate time for openings. An electronic reader board at the bottem of Mt Hood Express would be a nice addition.
   
   Thanks again for everyone up there as it has been a great start to the season.

7. ken

   November 21, 2009

   Wow much better today! Sat 11-21-09. The lines that merged did so evenly. The passes were scanned well in advance of lift loading. As people got on the chair it was much more orderly. I do not recall once today the chair having to stop as it often does when people scramble to get on the lift. One suggestion, if you use the same scanners next year how about putting the bar code on the back as well as the front.
   
   Thanks for a great day.

8. pdxbk

   November 22, 2009

   IMHO, The merge works on less than ideal condition days.
   
   On powder days or high volume days, now think about this for a minute, the selfish skier shows up. These are the folks who want that first track as many times as possible. And there's only one way to be first...second place loses. The ends justify the means to these people. These guys are the ones passing on the highway up to the mountain (which days do you see aggressive driving the most??).
   
   MHM please don't trust that people will police themselves. Make the maze end up fair at all costs, your customers will thank you.