THE QUESTION: ”I was wondering if I could scatter my grandfather’s ashes on the hill? We have good memories of coming there as a family.”

Your mountain likely holds a very special place in the hearts of many people, and some may desire it to be their eternal resting place—but that can get complicated depending on whether you operate on private or public land, and even then, not all public land is subject to the same regulations. Understandably, many of the employees the Spy spoke with weren’t sure what rules applied to their resort. 

People are uncomfortable talking about death and related topics. To that end, we were curious whether resorts would handle the question with appropriate compassion. Not everyone was up for the job. While nobody pried—a win!—some employees made things awkward or were just straight-up rude. Others were able to strike a more empathetic tone.

Customer service question left you scratching your head? Send those thorny, funky, or funny questions to jordyn@saminfo.com for the Spy to pose to other mountains. We won’t tell anyone the question came from you. Plus, if we use it, your resort will be immune for that issue. 

 

MOUNTAIN 1, MI

First Contact: Female.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: That should be OK.

SAM: OK. Is there a certain area to avoid?

Staff: You know what, I actually don’t know anymore. I think that would be a question for safety.

SAM: OK.

Staff: Um. I can take down your name and phone number and have them give you a call.

SAM: That would be great. (Gives contact information.)

Staff: And they may have to talk to corporate about it, but someone will be calling you.

SAM: OK. I appreciate the help.

Staff: Yep, goodbye.

Score: 5

Comment: She was confident in her answer—until I started asking questions. Then, she became a bit hesitant. While I appreciate that she wanted to get me the right info, I’m not sure I’ll actually get a callback. 

 

MOUNTAIN 2, MN

First Contact: Female.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: Yes, that is totally fine.

SAM: OK. Is there anywhere we should avoid?

Staff: Do you have any specific spots? I would just be careful around the mountain bike trails and just avoid those as it might be dangerous with the riders.

SAM: OK. And no, we do not have a specific run or anything. We are just hoping to come across a nice spot. Do we need to check in with anyone when we come?

Staff: Nope, you are free just do your own thing.

SAM: OK. Thank you.

Staff: You are welcome. Can I help you with anything else?

SAM: No, I think that was all.

Staff: Have a great day. Goodbye.

Score: 7

Comment: She was friendly and to the point. Her directness and her follow up questions were good (even if I still did a fair bit of prompting).

 

MOUNTAIN 3, ID

First Contact: Female.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: Um, let me see if I can get an answer for you.

SAM: OK.

Staff: This might take a while, we have quite a few people in meetings today.

SAM: OK. 

Staff: Let me just take down your contact information, and we can get you the right answer.

SAM: (Gives contact information.)

Staff: Once they are out of this meeting, I will have one of them give you a call.

SAM: Great, thank you.

Staff: Yep. Goodbye.

Score: 3

Comment: It’s good to try and find the answer if you don’t know it. But I was still waiting for a callback that never came from the mysterious “they” three days after this conversation.

 

MOUNTAIN 4, UT

First Contact: Female.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: I am not a hundred percent sure on that. Um, I know that we are on National Forest land, so that might be up to the (long pause) Forest Service. 

SAM: OK. Do you recommend I try to call them then?

Staff: Um... (silence) I could try calling someone really quickly to see if they know the answer. Let me put you on a brief hold.

SAM: Thank you.

(On hold...)

Staff: Thank you for holding. So, I was not able to get a hold of anybody today. I believe they might be in a meeting right now. I would recommend calling someone in the Forest Service to see what they know about it.

SAM: OK.

Staff: And you know, if they say that you need to talk with us, try calling back later and I can see if somebody is available then. 

SAM: Do you know the phone number for the appropriate person to contact at the Forest Service?

Staff: We are in the [name of forest]. I think you can just Google the phone number.

SAM: OK, thank you.

Staff: Yep. Goodbye.

Score: 5

Comment: She tried to find the right answer, which is better than her making a bad guess. It would have been more helpful to provide a Forest Service contact instead of pointing me to Google—but that’s not the worst crime.

 

MOUNTAIN 5, WV

First Contact: Female.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: (hard to hear) I am sure that would not be a problem. One second.

(long pause with rustling in the background)

SAM: OK.

Staff: (sounding like she’s off in the distance) Let me transfer you to make sure that is OK.

SAM: Thank you.

Second Contact: Female.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: (very quietly) That should be fine.

SAM: OK. Is there any place to avoid?

Staff: (mumbles) No.

SAM: OK, thank you.

Staff: Yep, goodbye.

Score: 3

Comment: They need to invest in some new phone lines. It was fine to transfer me so I could confirm the answer, but I could hardly hear either speaker and the second employee managed to make things extra awkward with her hushed tones and mumbling.

 

MOUNTAIN 6, IL

First Contact: Female.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: Um, is it OK if I transfer you to someone else? She’s in charge of everything that happens.

SAM: Yep, thank you.

Staff: If she is not there, just leave your name, phone number, and a message, and she can get back to you as soon as she can.

SAM: OK, thank you. 

(Transfers me to accounting.)

Second Contact: Female.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: Umm, I am not sure. (Hangs up.)

Score: 2

Comment: What the hell was that?!? Decent start, but I’m not sure why I was transferred to accounting when the accountant who answered the phone seemed to have neither answers nor customer service skills. Hanging up on me was rude. 

 

MOUNTAIN 7, VT

First Contact: Female.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: Um, I don’t see why not.

SAM: OK. Is there anywhere that we shouldn’t be spreading the ashes?

Staff: Um, is there a hill you are specifically looking at? Or does it not matter?

SAM: No, it doesn’t matter. We don’t have a set run or anything in mind.

Staff: OK.

SAM: We were just hoping to hike around and see if there was a good spot.

Staff: Yeah, absolutely. That is totally fine.

SAM: Great, thank you. Do we need to tell anybody when we get there, or can we just go?

Staff: Nope, you can just go and do your own thing. We have hiking maps at the front desk if you need one. The lifts aren’t running right now, so you would have to hike up. But yes, that is totally fine.

SAM: Great, thank you for your help.

Staff: You are welcome. Goodbye.

Score: 8

Comment: She was chipper for a Monday morning! Great, welcoming attitude, and her note about maps at the front desk was a helpful tidbit. Those little things can go a long way. 

Identity revealed: Smugglers’ Notch