Mt. Hood Meadows — Attraction in Hood River

Before I start, I do not ever write negative reviews on companies and I am usually very forgiving by nature but I had to write something for Meadows. My family and I have had season passes for 2 seasons and will not be renewing for next year. The issues started when we brought our own alcohol (seltzers) into the lodge. We were completely unaware that this was against the rules. Meadows has no signage detailing the no outside alcohol policy and I haven't been able to find anything on their website. An employee aggressively grabbed the can out of the hand of my wife and our guest while rudely informing us having our own alcohol was illegal. We weren't asked to pour them out, or to take them to our vehicle. The employee simply walked up and STOLE the drink from their hands while threatening to kick us out. We tried to explain we did not know the rule and that his actions were over the top but he was absolutely rude and treated us terribly. When we came back the next day, a security guard approached our table, grabbed one of our cups and said it smelled like vodka. He said they "have had trouble with us in the past" and asked to search our bags and cooler. When I declined he told me I couldn't decline because we signed an agreement to be searched at any time when we bought our pass. He proceeded to open our cooler, still without my permission, and found nothing but informed me that they would pull our passes if we were caught with alcohol again. We did not have any alcohol that day due to the previous days experience. I felt completely disrespected. They don't post any rules about outside alcohol, aggressively steal your drinks when they find someone who doesn't know about the rule, then search your belongings without consent because some how we are now a problem instead of a respected customer. I do not feel appreciated at all as a multi-year, family, season pass holder. We spent loads of money just to be treated like unwanted guests. Additionally, some of the best viewing location at the lodge, upstairs on the 3rd floor looking out towards the mountain, is closed off because "teenagers make a mess and we don't want to pay to clean it up". The mountain is always packed with paying customers and they don't feel like spending that money on simple janitor work to improve customer experience. Another day we got there early, set up my daughter with a broken leg upstairs on the more comfortable chairs, just to be told 15-20 minutes later that they are closing the area for a private party. Once again, no signage, no friendly offer for the trouble, just a "hey you have to leave, this is reserved for a private party". I could go on with many minor examples that by themselves are not big issues but just added up to an overall feeling that Meadows does not appreciate their customers. They have more of a vibe that we should be grateful they let us on the mountain. I highly recommend they re-evaluate their customer...

Shame on Mt Hood Meadows customer service and a horrible transaction process to buy lift tickets. 1st. There were no employees in the breezeway or anywhere letting guests know they have to scan a QR code to sign the release waiver. One employee selling tickets with a big line at 430pm. That one individual selling tickets is informing everyone to scan the code, read & sign it. Then has to take every individuals name/date of birth to make that guest a profile (very time consuming)! The guests don't step aside to fill out the waiver to let others do their transaction. My turn! I buy my night lift ticket and expect to pay $79 as listed on the website, but the price is $104. Why so much more? BECAUSE THE BUSIER MEADOWS IS & THE MORE LIFT TICKETS THEY SELL, THE PRICES INCREASE. So much for skiing on a budget...MIND BLOWING! That means we pay more to stand in longer lift lines and take less runs. The lady that sold me my lift ticket insisted I use an old prior pass instead of charging me the extra few dollars to print a new pass. I informed her that my old pass had went through the wash and was all rolled up. She insisted I go to my locker, get it anyway and if it didn't scan or work on the pass scanneron that she would print me a new one. My ticket did not scan so I had to go to the end of the line to get help again. They wouldn't let me go up to the window and reprint it. I am good to go at this point and my skis are about 15 ft behind me. The wind is blowing 20 mph with some sleet so I have my back turned into the wind so I can put my pass in my pocket, put my goggles on put my gloves on tuck my shirt in and zip up my coat. I turn around and my skis are gone. I check all of the ski racks for 30 minutes and then go into the concierge to ask if someone turned them in. The ticket sales manager walked out of the booth looked at my skis and figured they didn't belong to anyone, so he turned them in to Lost and Found. It is now 6:30 and I'm finally able to get on the mountain.

So what does guest services and Mt Hood Meadows have to say about my horrible experience? "Sorry, but there isn't really anything we can do. We're sorry about having only one employee in the ticket booth and sorry you had a bad experience". ARE YOU FUGGIN KIDDING ME! That's all they can do? JOKE!!!

Whatever happened to going up to a window paying cash, getting a lift ticket and skiing to the left?? The lines at Mount Hood Meadows Are ridiculously long and the ski resort cannot accommodate all the people driving up from Portland. Lifts often slow down and don't run at full speed. What used to be a fun affordable resort is now white trash if compared to a solid resort like Kirkwood, Heavenly, Whistler,...

I am a local to Oregon. I have been skiing at Mt Hood Meadows since 2007. Mt Hood is the only ski area which is easily reachable from the Portland metro area as a day trip, and Mt Hood Meadows is the largest resort on Mt Hood, with the best variety of terrain. When I started skiing there, the place was very nice (with the exception of variable and unpredictable weather, typically heavy snow and abundance on ice, but the resort has no control over it - it is a combination of location and altitude). The lines were very manageable, even on weekends. As Portland kept on growing, more and more people started coming to Mt Hood Meadows, and the place got overwhelmed by the crowds. Midweek is still skiable, although not as empty as it used to be (a powder day on a midweek day would be a total zoo), but weekends became a disaster. To begin with, one should target arrival time of 8 am (8:20 at the latest) to get a spot on the main parking lot. If you arrive later, they will send you to a remote lot and you will have to take that school bus which I like to call a "cattle transport vehicle". They started gradually transforming their fleet to normal buses, which is a good sign, but still, all parking lots are usually full by 9:30 am - so if you are late, they will send you home. If all lifts are open, the lines are manageable, but if one or two lifts are on weather standby, you will spend the day in queues to just get on the lift. Lodge is small. They built another lodge, Sahale, which is tiny. People can get food but cannot find a place to sit. Many are eating standing, just like cattle. Food is garbage no matter where you go. Alpenstube used to be a decent eatery, but this season it had chosen to downgrade itself to junk food at ridiculous, for the food quality, prices. COVID was horribly mishandled, they oversold tickets multiple times, people arrived with nonrefundable tickets, there was no parking, they had to park illegally and got tickets. Some of all this is less than perfect management, some - circumstances of being the only decent resort next to already very big and growing metro area. I've been skiing all over the country over the years, including Mt Hood Meadows, and frankly speaking, Mt Hood Meadows is one of the worst places to go, if one compares resorts of similar size. I would not recommend anyone who is not a Portland resident to come to Mt Hood...