MSS Season Opener Newsletter

Safety briefing with Coach Colin 

Welcome back! This is our favorite time of year - meeting our new instructors and welcoming back our returning staff. The energy is off the charts! We have all been out on the hill joining groups, and we want to extend a big thank you to all the trainers, for welcoming the supervisors and managers into your training groups. With the season officially underway, there is plenty of news to share.

In Memory of Andrew Gido

This fall, we were saddened by the tragic loss of Andrew Gido. Andrew was a cook in the Kids Ranch kitchen for the past two winter seasons. He passed away from suspected heat exhausting while on an extended hike in Big Bend National Park.

Rich McLaughlin, our Kids Ranch Kitchen Manager, shared this heartfelt statement:

“Andrew was a good man, and he will be missed in our kitchen here in the Kids Ranch. He loved working here and with everyone that came through our facility. He took pride in the food he made and served. He worked with our crew for two seasons, and this would have been his third. He pretty much knew everyone by name that worked here and made friends easily on the mountain. We already hear his voice in our heads with his wit and come back to conversations in the kitchen. Very soon our Crew will have a memorial ride for Andrew and tie his Snowboard boots and bindings to a pine tree in Grizzly Glade off Teton lift in his honor. It was his favorite run on the mountain. We will post when this happens so that anyone that knew him can join us.”

Welcome Aboard

Josh and a happy client

We are thrilled to welcome Josh Noteboom as the new leader of our Adaptive Program. Brian Guido, our previous Adaptive Supervisor, accepted an amazing opportunity in Bozeman, MT, and moved there with his family in September.

Josh comes to us from the Trails program at the University of Utah. Like Brian, he is certified in using the Tetra-ski and boat. He also holds a Level 3 Adaptive Cert. and is a member of the Adaptive Ed staff. Stop by the Bridger basement to say hello to Josh!

Welcome to all the new instructors! 

It has been exciting to see our newly minted instructors ripping around the hill in their training groups over the last few days. This season we are welcoming 106 new Alpine, 16 Snowboard and 4 Adaptive instructors. Over three days with our Ed Staff, they were introduced to the ski/ride fundamentals, teaching methodology and the basics of creating connections with our guests; all with a central focus on safety. Now placed into their product zone groups, they will go through operational training and meet their new teammates. Join us in welcoming them to the MSS at the annual New Hire Kids Ranch Party on Dec 20th at the Cody House.

Training

Training for returning instructors is in full swing! Here’s a quick reminder:

• Full- and Part-Time+ Instructors: You are invited to two days of paid training.

• Part-Time- and Peak Period Instructors: You are invited to one day of paid training.

Register for training days on ProCard using the instructor cohort listed in your offer letter. Please do not sign up for more than your allotted days.

Important Notes: Registration for each training day closes a few days in advance so groups can be formed, and trainers assigned. Late group assignments are not guaranteed, so sign up early to secure your spot and get paid!

Please be sure to complete your online orientation training by December 15th or within two weeks of your start date (whichever is later). The online orientation is a mandatory, paid training. Employees who complete the training with a passing score by the due date will receive vouchers. You can access the online orientation training here. 

Operational Updates

Thanks to everyone that has completed and submitted a schedule request form. If you haven’t yet, please submit it ASAP using this link: Schedule Request Form.

Please check out the newly remodeled MSS Employee Site. There is a ton of information specific to MSS on this site. Click on the header labeled “Tutorials” to see our expanding library of short videos that are guides to a variety of topics. Also catalogued are previous newsletters; it may be useful to skim back over those for announcements and information that we were releasing over the summer. Coming soon is an MSS Operations Manual that will have the most current information about all MSS operations.

Please review your ProCard profile, including your wage and priority calculators to ensure all your information is correct. If anything is missing or incorrect, let your supervisor know. We want to be sure that you are compensated correctly!

Full-time winter seasonal employees are eligible for 24 hours of seasonal time off. Seasonal time off may be used as vacation time or wellness time. To request seasonal time off, please ensure you have cleared your schedule with your supervisor and then notify the admin team james.huffman@jacksonhole.com, ashley.toon@jacksonhole.com and emily.bober@jacksonhole.com. You must notify the entire team (all three of them) within the same pay period that you use the time off. More information on paid time off can be found on page 18 of the JHMR employee handbook.

Employee Survey 

Last year, the Employee Experience team administered the first all company survey JHMR has participated in in several years. The goal of the survey was to collect baseline information about the level of employee engagement and satisfaction at JHMR and within individual departments. Using this information, the company and each department evaluated the results for opportunities for improvement. 

Within the Mountain Sports School, 463 of you completed the survey; thank you! Here is what we learned:

A clear positive driver of engagement within the school is sense of belonging (79% positive) and feeling like you are part of a team (82% positive). Topics that we identified as areas of improvement were supervisors and managers providing effective feedback (28% neutral) and holding our staff accountable (59%).

To address these areas, we are rolling out several initiatives for the season:

• Supervisors will complete one ProCard Constant Evaluator per day to provide regular, meaningful feedback.

• Trainers will be complete Instructor Feedback forms to share with training participants to deliver actionable, personalized feedback.

• We have improved the Clinic Feedback Form for you to give us feedback. This will foster two-way communication and shared accountability.

• Expanding the early- and late-day ski/ride arounds with supervisors- look for these on the training calendar. 

  
  

We are excited to implement these programs to strengthen a culture of communication, feedback, and continual improvement in the MSS.

Priority Updates for 2025-2026

Current priority calculator example

We are updating our priority system to better align with the value we place on professional development and creating experiences our guests want to return for. These updates will take effect in next winter, the 2025-2026 season. 

Priority points will be accrued based on: 

• Total work hours  

• Total instructor managed hours 

• Total students taught 

• Elective training hours 

• Status 

• Primary discipline certification 

• Children Specialist Accreditation 

Early this season, you will receive an email detailing your priority points and priority group based on this new system. This will give you the opportunity to review your points and provide feedback before the changes take effect next winter.

Priority is one factor supervisors use when assigning work. Priority does not guarantee any specific type of work (group vs. private lessons) or a particular type of student (level, age, or group size). As always, Supervisors will assign lessons based on the best match for the student and the lesson.

ProCard Updates 

With the start of a new season, updates to ProCard are gradually rolling out. Several changes to take note of:

1. Pick Up Status: For youth class lessons, a new “Indicate Pick Up Status” link appears in the top right of your class list. After clicking the link, you will select who picked up the child (Mother, Father, Nanny, etc...) with a single click.

   
   

2. For all group lessons, you can now create a class lesson list for the next day based on returning students. You will see in your next day’s schedule, a class lesson panel identical to the panel you currently use to create your list. Open this panel, and you will see that you are able to build the class list in the same manner you do each day. You can only do this if you are scheduled at that product zone for the following day and the student is signed up for the lesson.

   
   

3. Watch for an “Opt-in for Texts” message on the ProCard landing page. Opting in will allow you to receive automated texts from supervisors regarding schedule changes, missed check outs, MSS tram and gondola announcement and more!

   
   

4. If you ProBook your clients, you can now also cancel or re-schedule bookings directly in ProCard. Open the booking in your schedule and click the + icon to make changes. Remember that when you cancel your private, your schedule will revert to ‘Available for Privates’ and you could be booked!

A digital tutorial with these updates explaining and demonstrating these updates is forthcoming, stay tuned!

A Huge Thank You!

We want to give a HUGE shout-out to our snowmakers, groomers, patrol, and all the other operations teams working hard to keep things running smoothly. Despite limited terrain, the skiing has been fantastic! Looking ahead, Bridger and Marmot are scheduled to open this weekend, and the weather forecast looks promising. Keep thinking snow and stay safe out there!

MSS Employee Website

Mountain Sports School Management

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

P.O. Box 290

Teton Village, WY 83025