May 2008 - Posts
Hi Folks!
I wanted to take some time to discuss with you some of our new plans for this blog. These plans have been in the works since last July. This blog is a critically important communication tool that allows guests to provide feedback and insight regarding our operations. The comments, suggestions and constructive criticisms posted on this blog have and will continue to impact the decision making process at Mt. Hood Meadows.
I have enjoyed the many good conversations and want to continue this opportunity to facilitate constructive, meaningful, two-way dialogue between our guests and other management team members.
In order to make the blog more effective, we’re making some improvements to the blog itself. First – the name is now Meadows Blog. I’ll still be involved in posting special topics and associated responses. We are, however, expanding the opportunities for input from the very talented members of our management team to formulate some of the responses to your posts. This will improve Meadows Blog in two important ways. First, responding thoughtfully and consistently to the sheer volume of people posting comments -- which is awesome. Since July 2007 there have been more than 2,000 posts to this blog – that is an incredible amount of activity particularly when you consider that each post is read and responses are published to the many posts that are on topic. The second, and more significant reason, is because this blog has evolved to the point that many of your posts are well thought out, asking detailed and challenging questions that demand a thoughtful response. In some cases, we may take a little longer to provide a thorough response, or so that we can organize responses that adequately address similar posts. In this way we will improve the quality of the conversation – your good questions deserve well thought out and detailed answers.
The blog has become a part of the Meadows community. In fact, it may be a key instrument which is helping to build that community, at least virtually. The blog will never take the place of a good face-to-face conversation, but it does provide a way for those who care about Meadows and want to see it improve to express their concerns, ideas and great suggestions in a productive and constructive way. To further advance this concept we will ask you to join the community before posting.
This is a simple process – you select “Join” in the upper right hand corner of this page. You provide as much or as little information as you want – you don’t have to give your real name or set up a profile. You will need to provide an email address to receive and confirm your password. Once you are a member of the community, the “post a comment” box will appear at the bottom of each topic page, allowing you to post freely as you have done in the past. You only need to join the community once, when you come back simply “Sign In” and the page will recognize you – and the “post a comment” box will be visible. Those who aren’t members or haven’t signed in will be able to read the blog topic as well as the posts of others. Many of you have already joined – you do not need to join again, just keep using your current sign in. There are other benefits that this community can provide those who join that we will be exploring further.
Let’s discuss the rules for posting. The two main rules have been that the comment must be on topic and refrain from using profanity in order to be posted.
We would also like to refrain from rude or misleading statements intended to insult other guests or our employees. If you don’t like something about MHM or its operations – express it, but not without a specific suggestion for improvement.
Also, we’re not going to post comments, which are basically advertisements for other ski areas. While providing examples of how things are done at other areas can be helpful, a blatant commercial isn’t going to be posted. Again, we are more concerned about the members of our community who want to make Meadows better.
Through these changes the Meadows Blog serve its purpose – providing a forum and a resource for improving the experience for our guests and staff members. So join the community and have a terrific summer!
Onward!
--Matt
Hi Folks!
Well, all good things must come to an end and so it is with our historic 40th Anniversary Season here at Mt. Hood Meadows. Sunday, May 11 will be our last day of operation for this epic season.
We’re basing the decision on many factors, but primarily due to the quality of the experience that we would be able to offer if we were to continue the season on past May 11, 2008. The forecast is calling for increasingly warm weather through the week and beyond, into the 70s during the day at MHM, and not even down to freezing at night. Clearly not a good forecast for setting up spring corn and maintaining quality riding terrain.
We wanted to make this announcement today for those that would want to join us on our last day of the season on Sunday, May 11, 2008. We appreciate those that joined us last weekend, and those who came out today. But now it is on to summer and all the great recreational and outdoor pursuits Mt. Hood and Oregon have to offer. Here on the mountain we will be busy with many improvement projects which will make the Meadows experience even more enjoyable next season.
We want to thank everyone who has made our 40th anniversary season a real celebration of “Making Winter Fun”, and an historic season in terms of guest participation and snow fall. I would particularly like to express my sincere appreciation to our guests who made Meadows an important part of their winter this season. I would also like to thank all of you bloggers out there who participated in the many lively discussion we carried out on this blog. Mt. Hood Meadows benefitted greatly from your input, and I think you will see the tangible results of much of that input at MHM next season! Most importantly, I want to thank the incredibly talented and hardworking MHM Team for just an awesome effort this season. You consistently and successfully served more guests, under uniquely challenging (and epic) weather conditions, than we have ever done in our 40 year history! You continue to impress and amaze me with your talent, enthusiasm, love for the mountain and constant commitment to our guests.
I will be updating the Blog through the summer with topics that we’ve been discussing. For now I’d like to hear from you, our loyal Bloggers, about this season. What are some of your personal highlights about this amazing season here at Mt. Hood Meadows?
I look forward to receiving your posts, and thanks again for helping to make this an epic season at Mt. Hood Meadows!
Onward!
--Matt
Hi folks!
Congratulations on the great turn out this past weekend – particularly on Sunday! The first weekend of the May Challenge is in the books and we are a “GO” for next weekend, May 10 and 11. Lift operations will again be from 9 AM – 3 PM.
Based on the lift and trail usage we saw this past weekend, here’s the lifts we’re scheduling for this weekend:
Mt. Hood Express, Cascade Express, Buttercup, Daisy and Heather. Of course this schedule can be affected by weather and snow conditions.
Adding Daisy serves three purposes – it provides an additional lift out of the base area, it serves the Rose City, SuperPipe and Shipyard parks, and it is a quick connect to Cascade. The traffic on the Shooting Star terrain doesn’t warrant running that lift, as Heather is accessible from Cascade, particularly Upper Heather which had the best conditions in the canyon on Sunday.
Hopefully the weather will give us more of what we saw on Sunday, and less of what we saw last Saturday! Spread the word – Meadows is open this weekend.
Onward!
--Matt
MATT'S NOTE: We had a great turn out in the sunshine Sunday, enough to continue the season next weekend May 10 and 11!
The post below is regarding May 3 and 4. I'll be updating the blog shortly.
Hi folks.
Are you up for the first weekend of the May Challenge? We are. Here are the scheduled lifts for the weekend:
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Mt. Hood Express
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Buttercup
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Cascade Express
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Shooting Star Express
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Heather
That’s right – both Shooting Star Express and Heather are scheduled. Should be some great off-piste off both lifts this weekend. As always Heather and Cascade will be conditions permitting. Vista would operate as an alternate to Cascade, but I’m really looking forward to the wide open expansiveness and corn snow on Cascade!
On the freestyle front – Rose City Park, the in-ground SuperPipe, Shipyard and the Cascade Park (weather permitting) will all be open.
Our lift hours will be from 9 AM – 3 PM each day. Lift tickets will be discounted to $44 for adults, $25 for juniors (age 7 – 14) and seniors (age 65 and older) and $9 for children 6 and under.
The Retrofits will play both Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 PM at the Paradise Sundeck the perfect place to bask in the spring sun after a day on the mountain. We’ll also have the Schuss (including the full breakfast menu for those looking for the popular Meadow Muffin and hot breakfast) and Alpenstube open. Meadows will continue to offer ski school services for adults and children, daycare (reservations required for daycare), ski and snowboard rentals. You’ll want to check out the special in our retail shops – up to 70% off in our spring splash – liquidation sale, and skis and snowboards (both new and demo) are marked 50% off.
We’ll see you this weekend on the mountain. It’s going to be great!
--Matt