The Data Made Us Do It

Some thought the April 1, 2018, announcement declaring “No More Unlimited Passes at Mt. Hood Meadows” was an April Fool’s joke. Among the passholder community, many of whom had held their Unlimited Pass for decades, there was a mini uproar. But we were quite serious. The reason for this new direction: There are limits to the number of guests the resort can comfortably serve.

For several years prior, our strategy had been to advance-sell as many passes and tickets as possible, to protect against a low snow year or a bad weather weekend. And that worked, perhaps too well. It led to huge turnouts on weekends, challenging us to find space in the parking lot, for the lunch crowd, and at the lifts. Crowding was amplified by the two- to three-time-a-season guest, who only visited on peak days and always encountered “huge crowds.”